DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 


LAW  LIBRARY 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1889,  by 
SPIER  WHITAKER,  Esq., 

In  the  office  of  the  librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries. 


https://archive.org/details/argumentofspierw1889whit 


ARGUMENT 


i 


SPIER  WHITAKER,  ESO 

/ 


Of  Counsel  for  Prosecution , 


IN  THE 

TRIAL  OF  Dr.  EUGENE  GRISSOM, 

Supt.  of  the  N.  C.  Insane  Asylum , 


JULY  17th,  1889. 


RALEIGH  : 

E.  M.  UZZEEE,  STEAM  PRINTER  AND  BINDER. 
1889. 


7  //.  3 


l 

ARGUMENT. 


Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Board : 

William  P.  Letchworth,  President  of  the  New  York  Board 
of  Charities,  in  an  interesting  volume,  entitled  the  “Insane 
in  Foreign  Countries,”  says: 

“  The  discardal  of  old  and  cruel  forms  of  restraint  has  been  shown  to  be 
conducive  to  the  recovery  of  the  curable  and  to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of 
the  incurable  insane.  Freed  from  his  bonds,  with  opportunities  for  recre¬ 
ation  and  employment,  the  patient  who,  in  former  times,  would  have  been  a 
constant  source  of  anxiety  to  those  having  him  in  charge,  is  now  tractable 
md  even  serviceable  in  lessening  the  pecuniary  burden  consequent  upon  his 
;are.  To  maintain  the  system  which  produces  this  result,  however,  is  a 
ivork  that  taxes  all  the  ingenuity  and  resources  of  an  intelligent  and  expe¬ 
rienced  medical  staff,  supported  by  well  trained  attendants.  They  must  be 
;ver  vigilant  to  win  the  patient  gradually  to  ways  of  gentleness  if  he  be  vio- 
ent,  and  to  arouse  his  energies  and  sympathies  if  he  be  melancholic. 

“The  appliances  for  mechanical  restraint  were  not  found  in  foreign 
isyiums  to  the  extent  expected.  The  crib  was  nowhere  seen  and  my  inquiry 
or  it  in  some  instances  was  met  by  a  look  of  surprise.  Restraining  chairs 
rere  sometimes  observed,  but  muffs  and  gloves  were  only  occasionally  seen 
n  use,  and  it  was  said  that  when  they  were  put  on  it  was  usually  for  sur- 
ical  reasons.  Padded  rooms  for  the  seclusion  of  maniacal  patients  were 
ound  in  many  of  the  British  institutions.  The  number  of  such  rooms,  always 
3W,  varies.  In  some  parts  they  are  losing  favor.  It  was  generally  asserted 
hat  chemical  had  not  taken  the  place  of  mechanical  restraint. 

“From  my  observations  in  asylums  in  Great  Britain  and  in  this  country 
should  say  that,  on  the  whole,  there  was  less  restraint  there  than  here, 
otwithstanding  the  fact  that  in  many  asylums  in  the  United  States  it  may 
e  said  to  be  virtually  discarded.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  theory  of 
on-restraint,  once  so  thoroughly  resisted,  is  now  coming  to  be  universally 
xepted,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  adopted  in  recent  years  in  our 
sylums  leads  to  the  belief  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  what  is  com- 
lonly  understood  as  non-restraint  and  the  open-door  system  will  be  put  in 
ractice  to  a  greater  extent  in  this  country  than  it  now  is  in  Great  Britain  or 
1  the  Continent. 

“  In  many  of  the  British  asylums  it  is  the  rule  that,  in  case  it  becomes 
icessary  to  use  personal  force  to  remove  a  patient,  a  sufficient  number  of 
tendants  shall  be  called  in  to  accomplish  the  object  without  having  a  doubt- 


P82630 


4 


ful  struggle.  The  fact  thus  made  apparent  that  opposition  would  he  useless 
frequently  causes  the  patient  to  make  no  resistance  whatever,  and  the  de¬ 
sired  change  is  effected  without  disturbance.  An  acute  case,  when  violent 
and  excited,  is  placed  in  exclusive  charge  of  two  experienced  attendants, 
who  give  the  patient  several  hours’  daily  exercise  in  the  open  air  and  watch 
him  carefully  in  the  wards  until  his  excitement  subsides  and  one  person  can 
assume  the  care  of  him.  Finally  the  other  special  attendant  is  relieved  and 
the  case  receives  ordinary  attention.” 

The  same  author,  in  speaking  of  the  necessity  for  intelligent 
and  faithful  attendants,  says  : 

“  An  attendant  who  does  not  look  upon  a  person  mentally  diseased  with 
the  same  sympathy  as  he  looks  upon  one  bodily  sick  has  a  wrong  conception 
of  his  relations  to  the  patient,  and  is  likely  to  be  cruel  when  meaning  only  to 
be  just.  It  should  never  be  overlooked  by  those  in  charge  of  the  insane  that  they  are 
not  responsible  for  their  acts,  and  may  be  entirely  unconscious  of  what  they  are  doing. 
Failing  to  realize  this,  abusive  language  and  personal  indignities,  directed 
to  the  attendant,  awaken  his  resentment  and  a  desire  to  discipline  the  patient. 
Hatred  is  thus  inspired,  and  a  permanent  barrier  is  created  between  them. 
If  the  attendant  would  keep  in  mind  the  golden  rule — ‘  Do  unto  others  as  ye 
would  that  they  should  do  unto  you’ — and  imagine  himself  in  the  patient’s 
place,  and  how  he  would  like  to  be  treated  if  similarly  situated,  much  cruelty  ' 
would  be  avoided  and  more  of  the  insane  would  recover.  The  law  of  kind¬ 
ness  is  universal  and  is  as  applicable  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane  as  in  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  any  other  of  the  helpless  classes,  and  should  be  the  guiding  principle  in  their 
care.  Though  its  influence  may  not  be  immediately  perceptible,  its  subtle 
power  gradually  wins  its  way,  producing  quietness  where  there  was  violence 
and  disturbance,  and  developing  self-control  in  both  attendant  and  patient. 

“  As  great  suffering  may.  result  to  the  insane  from  neglect  as  from  inten 
tional  cruelty  or  systematic  severity.  It  is  much  easier  to  seclude  or  confim 
a  man  when  restless  or  violent  than  it  is  to  make  some  effort  to  employ  hin 
or  divert  his  thoughts  from  real  or  imaginary  troubles.  Separated  from  th  ^ 
world  as  he  is,  it  rests  with  the  attendant  16  soothe  and  comfort,  or  through  indifir 
ence,  incompetency,  or  acts  of  petty  tyranny,  to  exasperate  and  make  the  daily  life  c  I 
a  patient  unendurable,  thus  deepening  the  dark  shadows  that  have  gathered  around  hi  j 
clouded  reason." 

Mr.  Clark  Bell,  President  of  the  Medico-Legal  Society  o  '■ 
New  York,  in  an  article  published  in  the  “Medico-Legal  Jour  . 
nal”  of  March,  1887,  quotes  Dr.  Win.  A.  Hammond  as  sayiu 
that  the  crib  is  barbarous  and  inhuman,  and  the  bed-strap  as  baal 
or  almost  as  bad,  as  the  crib,  with  this  difference — that  a  patier  I 


5 


may  be  strapped  in  a  sitting  posture,  while  in  a  crib,  no  matter 
how  much  blood  there  is  in  a  patient’s  head,  he  is  obliged  to  lie 
down.  And  Dr.  W.  J.  Morton  is  of  the  same  opinion.  And 
the  English  Lunacy  Commission,  Lord  Ashley,  Chairman,  says: 

“  Whatever  may  be  the  means  or  forms  of  control  exercised  over  the  per¬ 
sons  of  the  patients,  or  whatever  the  degrees  in  which  the  application  of  this 
control  may  be  varied  in  different  asylums,  we  have  the  gratification  of  report¬ 
ing  that  in  every  public  and  private  asylum  in  the  kingdom,  which  is  well 
managed,  bodily  restraint  is  not  permitted,  except  in  extreme  cases  and  under 
the  express  sanction  of  a  competent  superintendent.  The  unanimous  opinion 
of  the  medical  officers  and  superintendents  of  these  public  and  private  asy¬ 
lums  is  that  the  diminution  of  restraint  in  the  treatment  of  lunatics  has  not 
only  lessened  the  sufferings,  but  has  improved  the  general  health  and  condi¬ 
tion,  as  well  as  promoted  the  comfort  of  the  insane.  *  *  * 

“The  medical  officers  and  superintendents  who  adhere  to  the  system  of  ab¬ 
solute  non-coercion,  never  using  mechanical  restraint,  even  in  case  of  extreme 
violence,  argue: 

“1.  That  their  practice  is  most  humane  and  most  beneficial  to  the  patient, 
soothing  instead  of  coercing  him  during  irritation,  and  encouraging  him  when 
tranquil  to  exert  his  faculties  in  order  to  acquire  complete  self-control; 

“2.  That  a  recovery  thus'  obtained  is  likely  to  be  more  permanent  than  a 
•eeovery  obtained  by  other  means;  and  that  in  case  of  a  tendency  to  relapse 
,he  patient  will,  of  his  own  accord,  be  more  likely  to  endeavor  to  resist  any 
•eturn  of  his  malady; 

“3.  That  mechanical  restraint  has  a  bad  moral  effect;  that  it  degrades  the 
tatient  in  his  own  opinion;  that  it  prevents  any  exertion  on  his  part;  and 
hus  impedes  his  recovery; 

“4.  That  experience  has  demonstrated  the  advantage  of  entirely  abolishing 
■estraint,  inasmuch  as  the  condition  of  some  asylums  where  it  had  been  pre¬ 
viously  practiced  in  a  moderate  and  very  restricted  degree  has  been  greatly 
mproved,  with  respect  to  the  tranquillity  and  the  appearance  of  cheerfulness 
,mong  the  patients  in  general,  after  all  mechanical  coercion  has  been  discon¬ 
tinued  ; 

“5.  That  mechanical  restraint,  if  used  at  all,  is  liable  to  great  abuse  from 
eepers  and  nurses,  who  will  often  resort  to  it  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  trouble 
5  themselves;  and  who,  even  when  well  disposed  towards  the  patient,  are  not 
ompetent  to  judge  of  the  extent  to  which  it  ought  to  be  applied; 

“6.  That  the  patient  may  be  controlled  as  effectually  without  mechanical 
sstraint  as  with  it;  and  that  the  only  requisites  for  enabling  superintendents 
f  asylums  to  dispense  with  the  use  of  mechanical  restraint  are  a  greater  num- 
er  of  attendants  and  a  better  system  of  classification  amongst  the  patients; 
lad  that  the  additional  expense  thereby  incurred  ought  not  to  form  a  consid- 
•ation  where  the  comfort  of  the  patients  is  concerned.” 


6 


Dr.  Blumer,  Superintendent  State  Asylum  at  Utica,  is  of  the 
same  opinion. 

“The  idea  of  a  corporal  punishment  of  the  insane  is  an  outrage  upon  our  civil¬ 
ization.  An  attendant  or  superintendent  who  under  any  circumstances  strikes 
an  insane  patient  should  he  at  once  discharged  and  then  punished,” 

says  Mr.  Clark  Bell. 

Mr.  Bell  further  says : 

“As  to  the  care  and  treatment  of  the  insane,  the  advance  has  been  steady, 
pronounced  and  healthful.  We  observe  as  to  mechanical  restraint  in  asylums 
the  superintendents,  one  after  another,  are  discarding  cribs,  muffs,  camisoles 
and  the  various  implements  so  much  in  vogue  in  the  quite  recent  past.  No 
superintendent  within  our  knowledge  has  made  the  trial  seriously  and  in  good 
earnest  who  has  not  succeeded.  None  who  have  succeeded  have  returned  and 
gone  back  to  their  use.  The  success  of  those  who  have,  year  after  year,  in  the 
larger  institutions,  gone  on  without  resorting  to  it  kindles  a  flame  whose  bril¬ 
liant  and  beautiful  light  shines  into  every  asylum  in  the  land.  It  is  a  light  ol 
beneficence,  of  kindliness,  of  gentleness,  of  love  and  blesses  alike  those  who 
wait  upon  and  keep  its  lustre  undimmed  and  visible,  and  the  darkened  minds 
on  whom  it  shines.  It  glorifies  the  giver  and  the  receiver.  Long  before  the 
end  of  the  nineteenth  century  all  there  will  be  left  of  mechanical  restraint  in 
America  will  be  its  terrible  traditions,  and  we  will  read  of  the  chains  and 
other  instruments  used  in  American  institutions  as  we  now  do  in  the  parlia¬ 
mentary  reports  of  Great  Britain  and  of  their  counterpart  there  in  the  first 
half  of  the  present  century.” 

Dr.  Wm.  A.  Hammond,  in  speaking  of  asylums,  says: 

“As  a  rule,  I  believe  these  institutions  are  well  conducted,  and  that  then 
is  a  growing  tendency  in  some  of  them  to  do  away,  as  far  as  is  at  present 
deemed  expedient,  with  certain  forms  of  mechanical  restraint  which  are  con¬ 
trary  to  the  principles  of  sound  psychological  medicine.  That  some  super¬ 
intendents  conduct  their  institutions  upon  a  better  system  than  others  is  of 
course  to  be  expected,  and  that  success  is,  to  a  great  extent,  due  to  the  char 
acter  of  this  system  is  very  evident.” 

Here  follow  some  criticisms  upon  the  management  of  the  Ral¬ 
eigh  Asylum  in  particular,  but  owing  to  the  unfriendly  relation' 
then  existing  between  Dr.  Hammond  and  Dr.  Grissom  I  wil 
omit  what  he  has  to  say  with  regard  to  him. 

In  a  lecture  delivered  by  Dr.  Hammond  before  the  Connec¬ 
ticut  Medical  Society,  May  29,  1879,  on  the  “Construction 


7 


Organization  and  Equipment  of  Hospitals  for  the  Insane,”  in 
speaking  of  the  crib,  he  says  : 

“Into  this  receptacle,  the  maniac,  whose  cerebral  blood-vessels  are  gorged 
with  blood,  and  whose  whole  aspect  is  that  of  a  person  suffering  from  cerebral 
hypnemia  or  congestion,  is  put,  stretched  out  at  full  length  with  less  than  a 
foot  of  space  between  his  body  and  the  top,  and  of  course  unable  to  sit  up  or  to 
assume  any  other  position  than  the  recumbent.  Is  it  a  matter  for  surprise  that 
patients  have  died  suddenly  ivhile  subject  to  such  restraint?  Why,  it  is  only  a  lit¬ 
tle  better  than.hanging  them  up  by  the  heels.” 


The  Superintendent  of  Poughkeepsie  Asylum,  Dr.  Cleveland, 
dispensed  with  cribs  in  1877 ;  also  Dr.  Chapin,  Superintendent 
of  Willard  Asylum,  New  York. 

Dr.  Morse,  Superintendent  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  Asylum,  is  op¬ 
posed  to  mechanical  restraint.  “Neurological  Contributions,” 
;page  101, 

Dr.  Blunter,  Superintendent  of  State  Lunatic  Asylum  at 
Utica,  New  York,  says: 


“Under  the  old  system  of  care,  with  mechanical  restraint  and  the  imposi¬ 
tion  of  needless  restrictions  upon  individual  liberty,  the  attendant  was  often- 
imes  little  more  than  a  turnkey,  and  took  little  pains  to  individualize  his 
patients.  An  especially  troublesome  man  was  restrained  on  the  earnest  re- 
juest  of  the  attendant,  who,  in  this  respect,  soon  acquired  all  the  arts  of  a 
special  pleader,  and  there  was  an  end,  for  the  time  being,  to  his  anxiety  and 
mnoyance  from  that  source.  What  was  the  effect  upon  the  patient?  Ifi- 
■reased  maniacal  disturbance,  due  to  the  attempted  mechanical  suppression  of 
.  symptom  of  his  disease,  increased  loss  of  self-control  and  self-respect,  and  a 
etarded  recovery.  How  did  it  affect  the  attendant?  It  placed  a  power  in 
iis  hands  which  he  was  bound,  sooner  or  later,  to  abuse.  It  tended  to  make  him 
arsh  instead  of  humane.  It  made  him  reckless  instead  of  watchful.  It  made 
im  careless  in  providing  occupation  for  his  charge.  It  prevented  the  substi- 
ltion  of  his  intelligence  and  mother-wit  for  mechanical  means  of  control.  In 
ne,  the  old  system  stood  in  the  way  of  individualizing  treatment  and  tended 
)  stigmatize  the  patient’s  disease..  Since  the  beginning  of  the  current  year 
1887)  it  has  been  found  not  only  practicable,  but  decidedly  advantageous,  to 
ispense  with  all  forms  of  mechanical  restraint,  such  as  muffs,  camisoles, 
ristlets,  belts,  etc.  The  transition  was  not  a  violent  one,  for  there  had  been 
t  years  an  appreciable  diminution  in  theiamount  used  in  this  hospital.  We 
*  iad  yielded  with  others  to  the  convictions  of  personal  experience  and  the  in- 
lence  of  example  elsewhere.  The  conception  of  what  constituted  the  mini¬ 
um  amount  of  restraint  had  become  less  and  less  elastic,  and  we  had  tacitly, 


8 


if  not  unconsciously,  fallen  into  line  with  other  advanced  hospitals  of  this|char- 
acter.  The  effect  on  the  whole  morale  of  the  hospital  must  be  apparent. 

"To  the  most  conservative  observer  the  patients  are  quieter  and  more  con¬ 
tented;  the  nurses  are  gentler  and  more  intelligent,  and  the  entire  atmosphere 
of  the  wards  is  more  wholesome.”  Manager’s  report  State  Lunatic  Asylum 
at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  p.  45. 


The  Committee  on  Lunacy,  of  Board  of  Public  Charities  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  November  10,  1885,  says: 


“  Mechanical  restraints  have  been  abundantly  proven  to  be  worse  thai 
useless,  having  been  abolished  altogether  in  some  hos|jitals,  with  the  happies 
results. 


They  are  usually  irritating  and  degrading  to  the  insane  and  complicaui 
the  treatment." 


This  committee,  in  their  report  in  1886,  says,  at  page  11a; 


“Very  little  mechanical  restraint  is  used  in  the  hospitals;  occasionally 


becomes  necessary  for  surgical  reasons  to  keep  bandages  and  dressings  on  th 
patients,  in  other  cases  to  prevent  injury  to  the  patients  themselves,  or  to  othe 
patients.” 


And  in  their  report  for  1888  they  say  : 


'“It  can  hardly  be  said  that  mechanical  restraint  is  now  used  in  any  pr 
vate  or  State  hospital  of  this  Commonwealth  ;  occasionally,  for  surgical  reason 
it  may  become  necessary,  or  for  the  prevention  of  injury  to  the  patients  then 
selves,  or  to  other  patients ;  it  never  is  otherwise  used.” 


In  the  report  of  Superintendent  of  Wisconsin  State  Hospit; 
for  Insane,  September  30,  1886,  he  says : 


“  One  of  th^  most  important  steps  ever  taken  in  the  management  of  th 
institution  was  the  total  abolishment  of  all  mechanical  restraint.  On  1st  Augu 
last  I  abolished  all  mechanical  restraint,  removing  from  the  wards  evei 
crib,  muff,  belt,  camisole,  anklet  and  otljer  form  of  restraining  apparatv 
The  result  has  exceeded  my  anticipations,  and  not  one  case  of  restraint  h 
Occurred  since  this  system  was  adopted.” 


The  Superintendent  of  the  Danver  Lunatic  Hospital  (Mass.’ 
September  30,  1887,  at  page  16  of  his  report,  says: 


“Relating  to  the  employment  of  restraint  and  seclusion,  I  can  only  say  th 
patients  have  been  thus  treated  only  when  their  own  and  the  welfare  of  oth< 


seem  to  demand  it.  Several  highly  dangerous  epileptics  have  contrftmt 


'  9 

rgely  to  the  list  of  persons  secluded,  it  being  deemed  better  for  such  patients 
i  be  alone  during  their  excitement  than  upon  the  ward  with  others.  A  con- 
derable  proportion  of  the  restraint  was  for  surgical  reasons,  or  for  the  pro- 
ction  of  a  few  feeble,  general  paralytics,  and  was  in  nearly  every  instance 
ily  sufficient  to  control  the  use  of  the  hands.” 

The  Superintendent  of  the  State  of  Mississippi  Lunatic  Asy- 
ira,  in  his  report,  December  1,  1887,  page  6,  says: 

• 

“But  a  few  years  ago  the  large  majority  of  the  superintendents  of  American 
ylums  were  loath  to  believe  that  an  insane  household  could  be  controlled 
thout  a  thorough  equipment  for  restraint,  believing,  unless  supplied  with 
is  mechanical  outfit,  that  great  means  of  control  and  cure  had  been  denied 
era  ;  but  how  wonderful  the  change  in  the  past  decade,  and  now  in  almost  all 
dl-governed  asylums  scarcely  a  monument  remains  of  what  was  formerly 
■  nsidered  a  sine  qua  non  for  the  successful  management  of  an  insane  institu- 


The  Superintendent  of  the  Iowa  Hospital  for  the  Insane  in 
Is  report,  July  1,  1885,  says: 

“  We  use  only  what  restraint  may  seem  best  for  the  well-being  and  safety 
<  the  individual  or  his  associates,  always  bearing  in  mind  that  it  is  a  surgi- 
(  appliance,  only  to  be  used  by  the  advice  of  a  physician  as  such  a  measure, 
id  never  as  a  'punishment.  ” 

The  Medical  Visitors’  Report  of  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane 
£  Hartford,  Conn.,  April  1887,  has  this  language:  « 

‘They  have  often  noted  the  absence  of  mechanical  restraints  and  the  sub- 
s.ution  of  personal  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the  attendants  as  one  of  the 
rst  praiseworthy  advances  of  the  day  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane.” 

I 

The  Superintendent  of  the  Northern  Michigan  Asylum  for 
t:  Insane  in  his  report,  October  21,  1886,  says,  at  page  34: 

No  restraints,  seclusion  or  anodynes  are  used.  It  can  be  truly  said  that, 
o  household  is  remarkably  free  from  excitement  and  irritability.  The  at- 
tidants  have  experienced  but  little  difficulty  in  making  the  most  excitable 
a  nervous  patients  comfortable.  The  success  of  the  more  recent  methods  of 
C  :ng  for  the  insane  principally  lies  in  the  absence  of  all  harsh  authority. 
A  authoritative  manner  towards  an  irritable  insane  person,  or  one  who  suffers 
d  isions  of  suspicion,  in  no  way  tends  to  the  development  of  his  powers  of 
st  control.  The  substitution  of  tact  for  force  of  any  kind,  in  the  treatment 
oi  he  insane,  will  ever  lead  to  the  greatest  attainable  results.” 


10 


The  Superintendent  of  the  Willard  Asylum  for  the  Insan 
New  York,  where  there  were  1,800  patients,  in  his  report  f 
the  year  1886,  at  page  16,  says: 

“There  were  four  individual  patients  who  wore  mechanical  restraint  at  soi 
time  during  the  year.  Two  were  surgical  cases,  and  restraint  was  applied  . 
prevent  the  removal  of  dressings;  one  was  a  powerful  woman,  who  habitua 
assaulted  her  associates  during  periods  of  excitement,  and  was  occasiona 
kept  to  her  seat  by  a  belt.  The  remaining  case,  a  man  who  had  persist*, 
suicidal  tendencies  and  manged  to  mutilate  himself  in  ingenious  ways,  was 
strained  by  a  camisole.  Two  women  wore  cloth  mittens  for  a  short  time 
account  of  active  propensities  to  destroy  clothing.” 

The  Michigan  Asylum  for  Insane  in  1886  had  almost  co: 
pletely  abandoned  the  use  of  mechanical  restraint.  The  Sup* 
intendent  says  that  acts  of  violence  are  far  less  frequent  thj 
formerly — the  patients  are  more  quiet,  orderly  and  clean. 
Superintendent’s  report,  page  80. 

The  Superintendent  of  the  Indiana  Hospital  for  the  Insaj 
in  his  report  to  the  Governor  of  the  State,  says  at  page  7 : 

“It  is  a  pleasing  fact  to  know  that  the  per  cent,  of  cures  among  the  patul 
has  increased,  and  the  death  rate  correspondingly  decreased.  More  perl 
have  been  cured  during  the  year  and  fewer  have  died  compared  with  I 
number  of  patients  under  treatment  than  during  any  year  in  the  history! 
the  Hospilhl.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  varied  amusements  that  are  in  (J 
stant  use  in  the  institution,  together  with  the  non-restraint  system  that  |i 
vails.  The  minds  of  the  patients  are  constantly  engaged  in  something  plea.‘| 
and  tl^ey  have  no  fears  of  being  abused  by  the  use  of  cruel  restraints.” 

In  the  Athens  (Ohio)  Asylum  for  the  Insane,  as  appears! 
Superintendent’s  report  for  1886,  there  was  no  mechanical  J 
straint  during  the  year.  No  mechanical  restraint  is  used  in  1 
Maryland  Hospital  for  Insane,  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital! 
Insane,  the  Columbus,  Ohio,  Asylum  for  Insane,  the  West! 
North  Carolina  Insane  Asylum,  or  the  State  Asylum  for  InsJ 
Criminals,  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.  Hear  what  the  Superintend! 
of  the  Alabama  Insane  Hospital  has  to  sav  on  this  subject 
his  report-,  30th  September,  1886: 


11 


“It  is  very  generally  known  that  the  system  of  mechanical  restraint  has  for 
ve  years  past  been  entirely  discarded  in  this  institution.  And  it  gives  me 
■eat  pleasure  at  the  end  of  another  biennial  period  to  re-affirm  in  the  most 
nphatic  manner  all  that  I  have  previously  claimed  in  behalf  of  the  new  de- 
irture.  With  the  exception  of  the  occasional  confinement  to  his  room  of  a 
aniacal  or  excited  patient  there  has  positively  been  no  restraint  of  any  kind 
jposed  upon  our  patients.  No  advance  that  has  been  made  in  the  treatment 
the  insane  within  the  past  fifty  years  has,  in  my  judgment,  accomplished 
■tter  and  more  far-reachirtg  results  than  the  abolition  of  mechanical  and 
her  unnecessary  restraint.  It  has  been  argued  by  some  who  are  not  pre- 
ired  to  proceed  to  the  extremes  that  we  advocate  that  in  the  absence  of  all 
echanical  restraints  it  becomes  necessary  in  the  treatment  of  the  destructive, 
olent  and  suicidal  insane  to  resort  either  to  the  administration  of  danger - 
is  narcotics  or  to’close  and  prolonged  confinement.  Our  five  years’  experi- 
ice  has  not  borne  out  the  truth  of  this  statement,  as  I  am  prepared  to  prove, 
nt  of  a  daily  average  of  722  patients  during  the  past  year  the  total  number 
eluded  were  only  37,  of  whom  18  were  men  and  19  were  women.  The  total 
imber  of  hours  were  for  the  men,  204,  for  the  women,  326.  There  are  weeks 
;d  even  months  at  a  time  when  no  patient  has  been  secluded  or  placed  in 
sitary  confinement,  a  result  which  was  never  obtained  under  the  old  coercive 
sitem.  In  the  matter  of  medical  or  chemical  restraint,  as  it  is  called,  it  is  a 
f  t  that  less  narcotic  medicines  are  given  now  than  at  any  previous  period  in 
t:  history  of  the  Hospital.  I  do  not  misstate  the  case  when  I  say  that  our 
cisumption  of  hyoscyamin,  a  very  common  as  well  as  safe  and  effectual  hyp- 
r  ic  and  quieting  drug,  does  not  exceed  half  a  dozen  grains  during  the  whole 

pi 

‘The  great  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the  characteristics  of  the  Hos- 
pil — in  the  quietness  that  pervades  the  wards,  the  tranquillity  and  content- 
rnit  of  the  patients,  and  the  confidence  and  good-will  with  which  they  regard 
tlir  officers  and  nurses,  are  very  striking  when  compared  with  the  noise, 
rdessness,  ill-will  and  suspicion  that  prevailed  under  the  old  system  of 
riraints.  That  this  manifest  improvement  is  largely,  if  not  entirely,  due  to 
tl  substitution  of  the  more  natural  and  rational  methods  of  discipline  for  the 
tc  often  arbitrary  and  cruel  use  of  mechanical  apparatus  there  is  hardly  room 
fc  a  reasonable  doubt.  It  is  gratifying  to  record  that  restraint  of  all  kinds 
hi  been  greatly  reduced  in  all  of  our  best  managed  hospitals  for  the  insane,  and 
tl  in  its  most  objectionable  forms  it  is  now  seldom,  or  never,  resorted  to  by 
tin  except  in  those  extreme  cases  where  the  life  or  safety  of  the  patient  or 
Mirs  is  supposed  to  be  in  jeopardy.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  we  have  never 
im  with  such  extreme  cases  in  our  past  five  years’  experience,  although  we 
fluently  encountered  them  before,  and  we  have  pretty  much  reached  the 
eclusion  that  the  remedy  itself  does  more  to  produce  than  to  prevent  them.” 

The  English  statute  on  this  subject,  enacted  by  Parliament  in 
1  ■  >3,  makes  it  a  misdemeanor  for  any  superintendent,  officer, 


12 


nurse,  attendant,  servant,  or  other  person  employed  in  any  as 
lum  for  the  insaue,  to  strike,  wound,  ill-treat,  or  wilfully  n( 
lect  any  lunatic  confined  therein. 

I  hope  the  time  will  come  when  the  people  of  North  Caroli 
will  show  their  humanity  by  passing  similar  laws. 

Here  in  this  grand  old  institution — the  pride  and  boast 
every  true-hearted  North  Carolinian — yes,  right  here  in  the  mi( 
of  our  boasted  civilization — in  the  very  sight  of  the  capit 
death  to  one  of  his  patients,  as  we  expect  to  prove,  has  result 
from  the  cruel  and  inhuman  treatment  of  this  “father  of  ( 
unfortunate,”  as  Dr.  Grissom  is  called  by  his  counsel. 

Oh,  that  he  had  learned  from  that  big-hearted,  sweet  siuj 
of  the  North,  that 

4  “Gentle  as  angels’  ministry 

The  guiding  hand  of  love  should  be, 

Which  seeks  again  those  chords  to  bind 
Which  human  woe  hath  rent  apart, 

To  heal  again  the  wounded  mind, 

To  bind  anew  the  broken  heart !  ” 

Before  I  begin  to  review  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  exa 
ined  before  you  I  desire  to  read  to  you  some  letters  introdu 
by  the  counsel  for  the  defence,  but  not  read  by  them. 

Dr.  G.  H.  Hill,  of  the  Iowa  Hospital  for  the  Insaue,  In 
pendence,  Iowa,  says: 

“We  have  always  used  mechanical  restraint  in  this  institution  to  a  lira 
extent.  We  have  now  770  patients  in  the  house — about  an  equal  numbe 
each  sex.  Last  week  one  man  was  restrained  every  day  by  means  of  a  lea  l 
cuff  about  one  wrist  and  a  strap  connecting  this  with  a  stationary  be 
This  man  has  an  inordinate  propensity  to  break  glass  and  cut  himself,  but! 
is  good-natured  and  does  not  object  to  being  restrained.  He  is  not  restral 
when  out  of  doors,  where  he  is  a  good  share  of  the  time  at  this  season  of  the  1 
nor  at  night.  Among  the  women  one  was  restrained  every  day  of  the  «vl 
and  another  five  days  out  of  the  seven.  This  is  all,  and  a  f^ir  showing  oil 
amount  of  restraint  ordinarily  used  in  this  institution.  While  some  insd 
tions  advocate  the  use  of  non-restraint,  yet  they  are  still  in  the  minoritil 
this  country,  and  I  am  not  yet  disposed  to  place  myself  in  a  position  whel 
cannot  use  mechanical  restraint  under  any  circumstances,  since  it  woulbl 
wrong  to  do  so  after  a  man  has  announced  to  the  public  that  he  does  not  cjj 
to  longer  use  restraint  of  any  kind.” 


13 


Here  is  an  insane  man  who  has  an  inordinate  propensity  to 
jak  glass  and  cut  himself.  Is  he  strapped  flat  on  his  back  to 
>ed  stead?  No  !  He  is  simply  restrained  by  means  of  a  leather 
iff  about  one  wrist  and  a  strap  connecting  this  to  a  stationary 
;ach. 

The  defendant’s  counsel  have  harped  upon  the  fact  that  Up- 
jarch  and  Barnett  and  Smith  belong  to  a  class  termed  by  them 
‘ le  criminally  insane,  ”  and  argue  that  in  the  treatment  of  such 
)'n  he  was  justified  in  using  any  means  he  chose,  however 
l.’sh,  in  order  to  make  “deep  mental  impressions  upon  them.” 
Et  see  what  a  prominent  superintendent  of  an  asylum  for  the 
::minal  insane  has  to  say  in  one  of  these  letters  introduced  by 
[.  Grissom. 

Dr.  Carlos  F.  MacDonald,  State  Asylum  for  Insane  Crimi- 
]  s,  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  says : 


The  question  of  use  or  non-use  of  mechanical  restraint  in  the  care  of  the 
d  ne  is,  in  my  opinion,  purely  a  medical  one,  to  be  determined  by  the  judg- 
b it  of  the  superintendent,  in  whom  is  properly  vested  the  direction  of  the 
nlical  and  moral  treatment  of  his  patients.  Authorities  are,  as  you  know, 
ided  on  this  question,  just  as  they  are  on  the  use  or  non-use  of  certain 
15s  in  the  treatment  of  their  patients,  some  eschewing  the  use  of  restraint, 
le  others  equally  competent,  humane  and  sympathetic  conscientiously  be- 
(e  in  and  advocate  its  use  in  certain  cases.  We  no  longer  restrain  in  this 
sum,  having  discontinued  it  absolutely  more  than  eight  years  ago  and  we 
e‘  that  we  get  on  better  without  it.  ” 


Gentlemen,  you  will  observe  that  Dr.  MacDonald,  the  super- 
trndent  of  an  asylum  where  none  are  allowed  but  such  as  are 
tiwn  as  the  criminal  insane,  says  that  the  question  of  the  use 
non-use  of  mechanical  restraint  in  the  care  of  the  insane  “is 
tely  a  medical  one,”  and  he  also  says:  “for  more  than  eight 

]rs  it  has  been  absolutely  discontinued,  and  we  feel  that  we 
on  better  without  it.”  There  is  not  a  word  said  about  strap- 
r  being  used  to  create  “deep  mental  impressions,”  nor  of  any 
r  being  strapped  to  impress  upon  him  the  impropriety  of 
u  ing  the  superintendent. 

>r.  Henry  M.  Hurd,  Eastern  Michigan  Asylum,  Pontiac, 
"ilkigan,  says: 


14 


“As  to  the  general  inquiries  in  your  letter,  I  would  say  that  although  I  c 
not  believe  in  the  use  of  mechanical  restraint  as  a  system,  and  constantly  di 
courage  its  application,  I  am  free  to  say  that  there  are  emergencies  arising  i 
the  treatment  of  mental  disease  which  are  better  met  by  the  application 
mechanical  restraint  than  by  any  other  mode  of  procedure.” 

Dr.  Geo.  C.  Palmer,  Michigan  Asylum  for  the  Insane,  Kali, 
mazoo,  Michigan,  writes  as  follows : 

“As  you  may  be  aware,  I  am  a  believer  in  non-restraint,  as  a  rule,  in  our  i 
stitutions;  but  experience  has  shown  me — as  I  think  to  most  superintendents 
that  a  few  cases  are  met  with  that  cannot  be  dealt  with  as  well  in  any  oth 
way  as  by  the  use  of  mechanical  restraints.  We  have  always  done  for  o 
patients  what  seemed  to  be  best,  without  any  sentiments  on  tfie  subject  of  lj 
straints,  and  that  is  the  case  of  a  homicidal  girl,  who  has  made  repeated  i] 
saults  with  intent  to  kill.” 


Dr.  Jas.  D.  Munson,  Northern  Michigan  Asylum,  Traverl 
City,  Michigan,  says : 


“An  experience  of  ten  years  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane  has  taught  lj 
that  there  are  patients  who  cannot  be  properly  cared  for  in  safety  to  themsehl 
and  others  without  the  use  of  mechanical  restraints.  The  extremely  violel 
or  those  with  impulses  to  self  mutilation,  can  scarcely  be  cared  for  withcl 
their  use.  Manual  restraints  are  perhaps  of  greatest  service  in  most  cases,  II 
in  the  class  of  patients  to  which  I  refer  they  are  impracticable,  for  the  reasl 
of  the  great  expense  attached  to  it,  and  the  great  danger  there  is  of  )| 
patients’  either  receiving  injuries  or  inflicting  them  on  their  attendants.” 

Dr.  T.  J.  Mitchell,  Mississippi  State  Lunatic  Asylum,  Jaci 
son,  Miss.,  says : 


“In  regard  to  your  inquiry,  ‘Is  mechanical  restraint  ever  employed  in  J 
well  regulated  institutions?’  will  say  that  it  is  not  uncommon.  I  myself  l| 
greatly  opposed  to  mechanical  restrant,  if  possible  to  avoid  it,  believin; 
quite  degrading,  but  find  at  times  it  is  quite  indispensable  to  the  comfort  d 
security  of  the  patients,  hence  when  I  think  it  subserves  a  good  purp 
use  it.” 


Dr.  J.  D.  Moncure,  Eastern  Lunatic  Asylum,  Willktmsbi 
Va.,  writes  the  following  : 


•  •  •  • 

“In  reply  to  your  inquiry  whether  mechanical  restraints  are  occasion 

required  in  American  insane  asylums,  will  state  that  I  never  visited  a  sitll 

institution  in  America  where  they  were  not  used  at  times.  As  for  my  <: a 


15 


lum  I  have  earnestly  striven  to  dispense  with  them  entirely  for  the  last  five 
rs,  but  in  spite  ot  all  my  efforts  and  my  personal  conviction  that  none  should 
r  be  used  I  have  had  to  resort  to  them  in  a  certain  class  of  patients  whose 
;ase  renders  them  dangerous  to  themselves  and  others.” 

gentlemen,  I  have  not  read  these  authorities  to  prove  that  be- 
se  Dr.  Grissom  has  used  mechanical  restraint  he  should  be 
□ed  out,  but  to  offset  evidence  offered  by  the  respondent  and 
w  that  the  question  of  restraint  or  non-restraint  is  a  dis- 
led  one,  and  that  there  are  many  and  great  men  on  both  sides 
:  t.  I  propose  to  make  you,  gentlemen  of  the  Board,  a  fair 
■ament;  in  fact,  I  would  be  obliged  to  di.sc.uss  this  question 
ly,  whether  I  were  so  inclined  or  not,  for  before  these  learned 
esentatives  of  medical  and  legal  science  deception  would  be 
tse  than  folly.  I  shall  endeavor  to  quote  nothing  incorrectly. 
K  should  argue,  as  I  said  before,  that  Dr.  Grissom  should  be 
i  led  out  of  his  office  because  he  sometimes  used  mechanical 
iS’aint  I  would  do  so  in  the  very  face  of  your  by-laws  theru- 
|Ss,  for  they  say  : 

i!o  attendant  shall  ever  apply  any  restraining  apparatus  to  at  patient  ex- 
ay  order  of  the  Superintendent,  or  of  a  resident  officer  under  his  direc¬ 
ts  certainly  implies  that  restraining  apparatus  may  be  used 
le  Superintendent,  or  under  his  orders.  But  the  question  is 
it  whether  Dr.  Grissom  has  used  mechanical  restraint,  but 

II  ' 

\  her  he  has  used  it  when  it  was  unnecessary  and  to  such  ex- 
)» as  to  be  cruel. 

lese  by-laws  further  direct  that  attendants  must  act  with 
nee  and  kindness  and  forbearance  !  These  regulations  were 
fed  by  a  man  who  had  a  heart  in  him  !  And  it  never  occur- 
)  such  a  man  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  give  instructions 
3  simple  laws  of  humanity  to  the  Superintendent  and  As- 
At  Physicians  of  this  institution — men  who,  in  one  of  the 
)st  callings  under  Heaven,  had  consecrated  their  lives  to  the 
.  1  of  their  suffering  fellow-beings — not  a  word  do  we  find  as 
t  ir  conduct  towards  patients. 

mi 


16 


Oh  !  how  could  it  have  occurred  to  the  author  of  that  lit 
book,  that  this  humane,  big-hearted  gentleman,  whom  his  con 
sel  has  almost  asked  you  to  bow  down  to  and  worship,  cot 
ever  need  such  instructions'? 

“The  attendants  shall  treat  the  patients  with  uniform  attention  and  resp< 
and  greet  them  with  friendly  salutations,  and  exhibit  such  other  marks 
kindness  and  good-will  as  evince  interest  and  sympathy.  They  shall  sp< 
in  a  mild,  persuasive  tone  of  voice,  and  never  address  a  patient  coarsely, 
>  by  a  nick-name.  ” 

I  don’t  know,  gentlemen,  what  is  above — my  ideas 
that  happy  hereafter,  I  must  confess,  are  not  perfectly  cle 
and  my  conception  of  that  awful  and  mysterious  power  tl 
rules  the  universe  is  vague  at  best,  but  I  cannot  help  feeli 
that  the  great  and  merciful  God  himself  inspired  the  writing 
that  book  just  as  much  as  he  did  the  works  of  St.  Johu  or 
St.  Luke. 

Having  most  probably  by  this  time  made  up  your  mil 
as  to  whether  mechanical  restraint  is  in  itself  right  or  wro 
and  if  right,  to  what  extent  it  should  be  used,  I  will  le; 
that  part  of  the  question  and  discuss  the  special  cases  in  wh 
we  claim  that  Dr.  Grissom  has  made  use  of  it  to  a  cr 
and  inhuman  degree  for  the  purpose  of  gratifying  his  perso 
animosity  and  revenge.  But  allow  me  to  digress  a  little. 

One  of  the  opposing  counsel  undertook  to  make  you  beli 
in  regard  to  Upchurch  that  a  full  report  was  made  of  his  ( 
at  the  time  for  the  benefit  of  the  Convention  of  Asylum  Su] 
intendents,  and  that  Dr.  Rogers  and  Mr.  Thompson  endoi 
and  approved  the  treatment  of  him  by  Dr.  Grissom.  But 
us  see.  Dr.  Rogers,  at  that  time  fresh  from  college,  had 
received  his  appointment.  I  am  not  a  physician,  but  I  tak 
that  it  is  in  medicine  as  in  law,  that  a  young  man  when  he  I 
his  license  has  just  placed  his  foot,  as  it  were,  on  the  first  j 
which  leads  to  the  house  of  knowledge,  or  in  other  words,  he 
simply  laid  the  foundation  on  which  to  build  that  house. 

Dr.  Rogers  made  out  the  report  under  the  direction  ofj 
superior  officer,  and  Mr.  Thompson  copied  it  because  he  wrd 


17 


etter  hand,  and  because,  under  the  by-laws,  he  was  the  clerk  of 
le  Superintendent.  It  contained  nothing  about  the  brutal  treat¬ 
ment  of  Upchurch  by  Dr.  Grissom.  “  Therefore,”  say  that  gentle- 
lau’s  counsel,  u  Dr.  Rogers  and  Mr.  Thompson  endorsed  it.”  It 
claimed  also  that  the  convention  endorsed  the  treatment  of 
ipchurch.  Let  me  read  to  you  that  report  written  by  Dr. 
logers  and  copied  by  Mr.  Thompson  : 

1 

“  W.  P.  Upchurch — Admitted  June  12th,  1878;  male;  single;  farmer;  is 
micidal — shot  his  brother  and  has  attempted  to  kill  other  people.  He  has 
rrible  delusions,  connected  with  other  patients,  attendants  and  others; 
tat  his  bones,  his  head,  neck,  etc.,  are  crushed;  has  hallucinations  of  hear- 
ng — hears  people  talking  about  him,  planning  to  kill  him,  etc.  On  one 
casion  he  kicked  an  iron  bar  out  of  his  window-guard  and  defied  any  one  to 
<ne  to  him;  is  a  large,  powerful  man  and  exceedingly  dangerous;  often 
\  kes  up  and  tears  up  his  bed-clothes,  clothing  and  everything  within  his 
irich.  His  attacks  upon  people  are  sudden  and  without  warning,  and  except 
1  restraint  would  occur  at  least  two  or  three  times  a  day.” 


That  medical  convention  endorsed  that  and  nothing  more ! 
d  Dr.  Grissom  go  before  that  great  assemblage  and  tell  those 
r;n  of  science  and  philanthropy  that  he  jumped  upon  a  poor, 
dented  creature  while  held  down  by  strong  men  anti  stamped 
u  in  the  face? 

Let  me  read  you  the  words  of  Dr.  Grissom  which  received 
sanction  and  applause  of  the  St.  Louis  Convention  : 

For  ourselves,  my  brethren,  we  stand  or  fall,  not  upon  the  opinions  of  oth- 
ii  but  upon  the  performance  of  a  sacred  duty  ;  not  in  blind  adherence  to  any 
.lory,  but  such  as  experience  may  recommend.  Let  us  see,  above  all 
igs,  that  we  use  and  do  not  abuse  any  means  of  treatment  God  has  placed  in 
hands  for  the  protection  of  his  stricken  creatures,  and  we  may  fear  not 
n  they  and  we  come  to  a  final  judgment  before  the  Eye  that  seeth  all 
rts.” 

low  we  will  proceed  to  the  dry  facts.  But  first  I  want  to 
lily  to  the  declaration  of  one  of  the  opposing  counsel  that  every- 
]ig  done  here  has  been  with  the  sanction  and  approval  of  Dr. 
ler. 

! 


What  right  has  he  to  say  so?  Many  and  able  lawyers  ha 
been  employed  to  defend  Dr.  Grissom.  They  have  come  frc 
all  parts  of  North  Carolina,  and  none  abler  can  be  found  with 
its  borders.  Why,  oh!  icliy  didn’t  they  put  Dr.  Fuller  on  t 
stand  ?  They  have  asked  you  to  believe  that  that  light  whi 
emanates  from  the  great  heart  of  Dr.  Grissom,  from  the  lies 
of  this  humane,  this  great,  tender-hearted  philanthropist,  tl 
wonderful  man,  who  is  covered  all  over  with  honors,  is  so  brig 
as  to  cast  into  the  shade,  as  it  were,  all  other  lights  which  we, 
our  ignorance,  had  thought  were  showing  the  way  to  seekers  ; 
ter  the  knowledge  of  the  proper  treatment  of  the  insane. 

It  may  be  asked  why  the  prosecution  did  not  put  Dr.  Fill 
on  the  stand.  Dr.  Fuller  is  a  connection  of  Mr.  Thompst 
and  his  honorable,  sensitive  nature  made  him  shrink  from  a 
pearing  on  the  stand  as  a  witness  for  his  kinsman  in  a  matter 
such  deep  moment  and  concern  to  him.  It  was  out  of  def-J 
ence  to  his  feelings  that  he  was  not  summoued  by  the  pros® 
tion.  But  there  was  no  such  difficulty  in  the  way  of  his  tes 
fying  for  the  other  side.  They  knew,  we  all  knew,  that  co 
what  might,  if  Dr.  Fuller  was  put  on  the  stand,  he  would  t 
the  truth !  I  repeat  the  question,  why  didn’t  they  do  it? 
have  a  right  to  believe  that  they  were  afraid  to  do  so. 

Now  let  me  show  you  who  Dr.  Fuller  is.  He  has  been  c< 
nected  with  this  Asylum  for  more  than  thirty  years,  he  was  h 
before  the  great  Grissom  came,  and  he  is  to-day  in  the  perfor 
ance  of  those  duties  to  which  he  has  devoted  almost  a  life-tii 
Hear  what  Dr.  Murphy,  the  Superintendent  of  the  West 
North  Carolina  Asylum,  says  of  him: 


“Dr.  Fuller  is  without  doubt  wrapped  up  in  his  business  and  deeply 
ested  in  the  welfare  of  the  insane,  not  only  those  under  his  direct  charge, 
in  the  welfare  of  all.  There  is  no  personal  sacrifice  that  he  would  not  rr 
for  them.  He  is  honest  and  capable,  with  sound  judgment,  what  we  c: 
long-headed  man,  slow  to  make  up  an  opinion,  but  when  he  does  arrive 
conclusion  it  is  nearly  always  correct  and  always  by  using  his  reasoning  j 
ers.  He  is  never  carried  away  by  passion  or  prejudice,  but  is  deliberate 
cool.  His  knowledge  of  asylums  and  asylum  management  is  enormous, 
best  traits  are  his  honesty,  his  ability  to  control  himself,  his  passions 


19 


jetites,  his  determination,  and  to  always  do  right  for  right’s  sake,  regardless 
the  opinions  of  others.  No  man  has  ever  used  him  as  a  tool,  and  above 
ryttfing  else  he  is  truly  a  Christian  and  a  pious  man.  I  would  rather  have 
commendation  as  a  good  asylum  manager  than  any  man’s  I  know,  for  it 
□Id  be  worth  more.  He  is  fully  able  to  form  one,  and  he  knows  the  false 
n  the  genuine.  Dr.  Fuller  is  a  good  man.” 


I  take  for  granted  that  Dr.  Murphy  had  never  heard  of  Dr. 
’issom. 

He  winds  up  with  those  pregnant  words,  “Dr.  Fuller  is  a 
od  man.”  Why  didn’t  they  put  him  on  the  stand?  When 
bv  did  not  what  right  have  they  to  argue  that  he  sanctioned  all 
is?  For  three  long  weeks  we  have  been  engaged,  day  after  day, 
the  investigation  of  these  charges  against  Dr.  Grissom,  and 
iile  we  have  been  examining  witness  after  witness  Dr.  Fuller 
3  been  passing  to  and  fro  along  the  halls  aind  the  wards  of  this 
ylum  in  the  performance  of  his  duties;  and  at  almost  any 
ur,  upon  ten  minutes’  notice,  they  could  have  had  Dr.  Fuller 
’ore  this  Board.  They  sent  hither  and  thither  in  all  directions, 
,;n  beyond  the  borders  of  the  State,  for  witnesses,  and  brought 
m  here  at  great  cost. 

If  Dr.  Fuller  approved  of  Dr.  Grissom’s  treatment  of  the 
ients;  if  Dr.  Fuller,  by  his  long  and  intimate  knowledge  of 
affairs  of  the  Asylum  and  the  conduct  of  its  officers,  would 
ire  been  able  to  say  that  Dr.  Grissom  was  a  man  of  upright 
P  k  and  high  moral  character,  why,  I  again  ask,  why  did  not 
(.counsel  for  Dr.  Grissom  put  Dr.  Fuller  on  the  witness  stand. 
1  insel  says  Dr.  Grissom  owes  his  promotion  to  his  pamphlet 
■restraint. 

>ear  in  mind  the  title  of  his  pamphlet  :  “Mechanical  Re- 
int  as  a  Protection  to  the  Insane.” 

Ve  will  now  take  the  cases  as  they  come.  I  will  cite  Dr. 
Jssom’s  own  testimony. 

I 'hat  of  Miss  Mary  Foy  comes  first.  With  regard  to  her, 
witnesses  have  testified — Miss  Ella  N.  Edwards  and  Dr. 
5Som.  Wherever  the  defendant  flatly  denies  the  statement 
witness  I  give  him  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  and  pass  it  by. 


MISS  MARY  FOY. 


Miss  Ella  N.  Edwards  testifies : 

Do  you  know  Miss  Mary  Foy?  A.  I  do;  she  was  my  patient  when  I  h 
charge  of  the  first  ward. 

How  old  was  she?  A.  I  should  say  she  was  about  twenty-five  or  thirty.  | 

How  did  she  behave?  A.  She  always  behaved  very  nicely. 

Do  you  remember  any  treatment  of  her  by  the  Superintendent?  A. 
came  in  and  said  good  morning;  she  did  not  speak,  then  he  spoke  again  a 
she  did  not  speak,  and  he  asked  her  if  she  did  not  like  him ;  he  told  her 
was  the  Superintendent  of  the  institution,  and  told  me  to  go  to  the  dinii 
room  and  get  a  dipper  of  w'ater,  and  he  threw  it  right  in  her  face,  and  ! 
raved  and  he  went  out  laughing. 

That  is  the  story;  she  had  done  nothing. 

Miss  Mary  Foy  is  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  most  highly  c 
tivated  and  refined  families  in  Eastern  North  Carolina, 
was  reared  and  educated  in  the  midst  of  luxury,  culture  and 
finement.  A  lady  by  birth  and  by  education,  how  terribly  m 
tifying  and  humiliating  such  treatment  must  have  been  to  h 
Dr.  Grissom  says: 

“ Miss  Mary  Foy  was  admitted  in  September,  1888,  and  was  sent  home 
probation.  She  was  then  discharged  and  has  been  re-admitted.  She  is  1: 
now.  She  is  a  patient  of  many  hallucinations.  She  imagines  herself  to 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Rogers.  She  had  the  habit  of  seizing  hold  of  him  when 
came  about  her.  She  had  a  demoralizing  influence  over  other  patients, 
is  not  addicted  to  fighting.  Miss  Edwards’  testimony  as  to  my  treatmen 
Miss  Foy  did  not  occur.  On  a  different  occasion,  and  not  in  the  presenc 
Miss  Edwards,  I  ordered  her  locked  up  in  a  room  and  threw  a  dipper  of  w 
in  her  face  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  her  with  the  impropriety  of  her  cone 
I  have  found  a  certain  class  of  patients  who  are  very  hard  to  impress.  Words 
not  sufficient.  It  is  necessary  to  restrain  them.  This,  however,  should  be 
sorted  to  only  in  cases  of  necessity.  I  have  frequently  resorted  to  thro 
water  in  the  face  for  the  purpose  of  producing  a  mental  impression  that  c 
not  be  done  otherwise.  In  her  case  there  has  been  a  great  improvement, 
hardly  ever  repeats  the  improper  conduct.  It  was  the  only  time  I  evertl 
water  in  her  face.  It  is  the  usual  custom  in  all  institutions  of  this  kind 
the  superintendent  to  establish  and  maintain  a  system  of  discipline.  I  d< 
remember  what  attendant  was  present  at  the  time  of  the  occurrence.  It 
not  Miss  Edwards.  I  do  not  recall  any  other  instance  of  unusual  treatii 
to  Miss  Foy.” 


rr 


21 


‘I  ordered  her  locked  up  in  her  room  and  threw  a  dipper  of 
ter  in  her  face  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  her  with  the  im- 
ipriety  of  her  conduct  !  I  have  found  a  certain  class  of  pa¬ 
nts  who  are  very  hard  to  impress.  I  have  frequently  resorted 
throwing  water  in  the  face  for  the  purpose  of  producing  a 
ntal  impression  that  could  not  be  done  otherwise.” 

[,  the  Czar,  the  almost  god  to  whom  people  should  bend  the 
ee  in  adoration.  I,  greater  than  all  other  alienists,  even  I, 
re  found  in  my  long  experience  that  it  is  necessary  to  make  a 
ntal  impression  upon  a  certain  class  of  patients,  and  that  to 
so  it  is  necessary  to  dash  water  in  the  face,  to  bind  hand  and 
it  for  hours  and  davs  until  human  endurance  is  exhausted. 

J 

ue  it  is  that  the  Board  of  Directors  of  this  institution  have 
arly  forbidden  any  such  treatment,  and  the  most  enthusiastic 
those  alienists  who  advocate  mechanical  restraint  say  that  it 
>uld  be  used  only  to  prevent  the  patient’s  doing  violence  to  him- 
f  or  others,  and  for  surgical  reasons.  True  it  is  that  it  has  never 
urred  to  the  mind  of  any  alienist  or  philanthropist  that  these 
similar  means  should  be  used  as  a  punishment,  or,  as  I  call  it, 
make  a  mental  impression,  for  impropriety  of  conduct.  But 
at  do  they  know  of  these  things?  What  is  their  little  exper 
■ice  or  their  small  knowledge  as  compared  to  that  of  the  great 
Issom,  who  has  ruled  supreme  in  this  institution  for  twenty- 
i  long  years? 

jet  this  or  any  other  insane  woman  in  my  keeping,  be  careful 
53  what  hallucination  possesses  her  mind  !  It  is  true  that  Maj. 
r  hrie’s  experience  has  shown  that  delusions  and  hallucinations 
i?  uncontrollable  possession  of  the  minds  of  the  insane,  and 
)  though  the  victim  of  these  hallucinations  and  delusions  is 
bscious  of  them,  that  it  is  impossible  to  prevent  or  control 
in — yet  I,  the  great,  tender-hearted  philanthropist,  as  my 
hsel  calls  me,  to  whom  the  knee  should  be  bent  in  adoration, 
i  not  submit  to — will  not  permit  to  go  unpunished — any 

I  nan,  no  matter  how  insane  she  may  be,  in  whose  mind  dwells 
Hallucination  of  being  the  wife  of  that  man,  whom  above  all 
re  I  detest,  and  I  will  lock  her  up  in  her  room  and  dash  a 


j 


.  22 


(Tipper  of  water  in  her  face  in  order  to  impress  upon  her  t 
great  impropriety  of  such  hallucination. 

Gentlemen,  when  I  reflect  upon  this  testimony,  when  in  n 
imagination  I  see  this  refined,  but  poor,  unfortunate  insane  w 
man  standing  there  in  her  room  quietly  submitting  to  the  i 
dignity  of  having  a  dipper  of  water  dashed  into  her  face  becat 
of  what  she  could  not  help,  by  this  man  whom  the  preach* 
have  described  as  a  tender  and  solicitous  father  to  the  unfort 
nates  in  his  charge,  I  have  not  words  to  express  my  deep  a 
bitter  indignation.  When  these  men  of  God  came  over  here 
Sundays  to  administer  to  the  insane  as  much  of  spirit* 
comfort  as  possible — when  they  noticed  Dr.  Grissom’s  cl< 
attention  to  their  divine  services,  and  when  they  saw  hi 
with  his  unfortunates  on  dress  parade,  as  it  were,  being  gd 
men  themselves,  they  were  easily  deceived,  and  naturally  cal 
to  the  conclusion  that  Dr.  Grissom  was  to  be  compared  to  a  t<| 
der-hearted  father,  solicitous  of  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  I 
poor,  unfortunate  children;  but  they  did  not  see  Dr.  Grissl 
dashing  water  in  the  face  of  this  poor  woman — they  <] 
not  see  him,  red  with  anger,  ordering  poor  Smith  to  I 
strapped  for  saying  what  he  could  not  help ;  they  did  not  I 
him,  possessed  with  rage,  stamping  with  his  heels  poor  Upchul 
on  the  face  and  neck,  while  he  was  held  powerless  upon  I 
floor  by  strong  men.  I  present  to  you  the  picture  of  Dr.  G| 
som,  as  drawn  by  himself — “I  threw  a  dipper  of  water  in  I 
face  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  her  with  the  impropriety 
her  conduct.  I  have  found  a  certain  class  of  patients  who  1 
very  hard  to  impress.  Words  are  not  sufficient.  It  is  neJ 
sary  to  restrain  them.” 

The  counsel  on  the  other  side  have  read  to  you  letter  after  I 
ter  addressed  to  Dr.  Grissom  by  eminent  alienists  as  to  the  netf 
sity  of  mechanical  restraint,  but  in  all  these  letters,  as  well  ail 
all  the  writings  on  this  subject  which  they  have  read  to  you  till 
is  not  even  an  intimation  that  under  any  circumstances  an  iny 
person  should  be  punished  for  what  he  has  done.  But,  says  ■ 
Grisgom,  I  do  not  punish  them ;  I  am  a  tender  father  to  theml 


23 


ould  not  take  a  poor  insane  woman,  whose  friends  are  far  away 
id  who  is  absolutely  in  my  power,  and  punish  her  because  she, 
her  insanity,  imagined  that  my  enemy  was  her  husband  ! 
rue,  that  because  of  this  I  locked  her  up  in  her  room  and  threw 
iter  in  her  face,  but  this  was  done  to  make  a  mental  impression 
ion  her  as  to  the  impropriety  of  her  conduct ! 

Remember,  gentlemen,  that  you,  too,  or  some  one  near  and 
ar  to  you, 'may  be  sent  to  this  Asylum  and  assigned  to  the  care 
this  “tender-hearted  philanthropist.”  I  pray  that  God  in 
s  mercy  may  not  give  you  this  bitter  cup  to  drink.  But  this 
iisfortune  may  overtake  you,  and  delusions  and  hallucinations 
tirely  beyond  your  control  may  run  wild  across  your  brain, 
id  amongst  these  hallucinations  there  may  be  one  which  is 
pleasant  to  Dr.  Grissom.  You  may  fancy  that  some  enemy 
Dr.  Grissom  is  not  the  meanest  of  men,  or  you  may  imagine 
it  Dr.  Grissom  is  not  that  pure  and  moral,  that  great,  illus- 
ous  and  God-like  man  which  the  counsel  on  the  other  side 
ve  undertaken  to  make  us  believe.  Far  be  it  from  him  to 
nish  you  for  these  things,  but  he  will  lock  you  up  and  dash  water 
your  face,  or  throw  you  upon  the  floor  and  curse  you  and 
oke  you  nearly  'to  death  to  make  a  mental  impression  upon 
rr  poor  insane  mind.  For  the  sake  of  the  argument  I  will 
;  you  to  discard  for  the  moment  the  testimony  of  Miss  Ed- 
irds  and  consider  that  only  as  worthy  of  belief  which  has  been 
en  to  you  by  Dr.  Grissom  himself.  And  when  you  have  done 
nhow  can  you  acquit  him  of  this  charge?  I  do  not  appeal  to 
1  i  to  convict  him  of  a  charge  so  serious  as  this,  and 'one  which 
if  found  to  be  true  ought  to  send  him  in  disgrace  from  this 
plum.  But  when  you  consider  his  testimony  only  how,  I  ask, 
9  die  name  of  truth  and  justice,  can  you  acquit  him  ? 

»f  The  next  case  which  I  shall  present  to  your  particular  atten- 
i  is  that  of 


MRS.  WHALEY  AND  MRS.  OVERMAN. 

vliss  Ella  N.  Edwards  testifies : 


o  you  know  Mrs.  Whaley  and  Mrs.  Overman?  A.  Yes,  sir;  they  were 
s  ents  on  the  first  ward. 


24 


Do  you  know  whether  or  not  they  were  violent?  A.  Mrs.  Whaley  was  vie 
lent;  Mrs.  Overman  was  not. 

Do  you  know  anything  in  regard  to  their  treatment?  A.  One  day  the 
got  to  quarreling  on  the  ward,  and  at  last  one  of  them  hit  the  othe’ 
I  locked  them  in  separate  rooms;  I  reported  it  to  the  Superintendent; 
went  first  to  the  matron,  and  then  I  went  to  the  Superintendent’s  room  ar 
found  her  there.  I  told  Dr.  Grissom  about  that;  he  said  he  would  go  and  a 
tend  to  them;  the  matron  started  but  said  someone  called  her  and  went  bac 
She  did  not  want  to  be  there.  Dr.  Grissom  took  them  and  put  them  inastroi 
room  in  the  first  ward,  and  told  them  to  fight  now  as  long  as  tlijey  wanted 
and  they  did  fight,  and  he  stood  at  the  trap-door  and  looked  at  them  and  to 
them  to  fight  and  laughed  at  them.  Then  he  went  on  out  and  told  me  not 
put  it  down  on  my  report;  one  of  them  had  her  hair  pulled  out  fearfully ;  o> 
had  short  hair,  and  they  bruised  each  other  very  much. 

Now,  gentlemen,  there  is  no  uncertainty  in  this  testimony  < 
Miss  Edwards.  It  was  printed  and  went  into  the  hands  of  D 
Grissom  early  in  this  trial.  Many  days  afterwards,  when  E 
Grissom  went  upon  the  stand,  having  had  abundant  time 
which  to  scrutinize  it,  he  was  fully  aware  of  what  it  containe 
and  if  it  or  any  part  of  it  was  not  true  he  would  have  square 
and  unmistakably  denied  it.  Hear  what  he  says: 

“  The  allegation  that  Mrs.  Overman  and  Mrs.  Whaley  were  locked  in  a  roc 
together  and  told  to  fight  till  they  got  tired  of  it  is  totally  untrue.  On  c 
occasion  I  remember  threatening  to  lock  up  two  patients  who  hhd  been  fig 
ing.  I  don’t  remember  who  they  were.  I  told  the  attendant  in  their  heari 
to  lock  them  up  and  let  them  fight  it  out.  If  they  were  locked  up  at  all  til 
did  not  fight  and  would  not  have  been  permitted  to  fight.  Patients  have  nei 
fought  to  my  knowledge  or  consent.  Mrs.  Overman  is  a  violent  patient 
times.  She  is  strong  and  stout.  Mrs.  Whaley  is  a  patient  who  fights  a  gr 
deal  and  is  very  mischievous.  Mrs.  Overman  has  perhaps  not  improved  wl 
here.  Mrs.  Whaley  has  improved  and  is  now  easy  to  manage. 

“  On  one  occasion  I  remember  threatening  to  lock  up  two  patients  who  1 
been  fighting;  I  don’t  remember  who  they  were;  I  told  the  attendant  in  tl: 
hearing  to  lock  them  up  and  let  them  fight  it  out.  If  they  were  locked  uj 
all  they  did  not  fight,  and  would  not  have  been  permitted  to  fight.” 

He  gave  these  instructions  to  the  attendant,  went  away  a 
does  not  know  what  happened  afterwards.  “I  told  the  attei 
ant,  in  their  hearing,  to  lock  them  up  and  let  them  fight  it  ou 
He  does  not  say  that  he  at  the  same  time  whispered  to  the  attei 


25 


nt  uot  to  do  so.  He  does  not  testify  that  he  gave  these  instruc- 
ions  to  the  attendant,  in  the  presence  of  these  insane  women,  in 
>rder  simply  to  frighten  them,  and  that  he  at  the  same  time  told 
he  attendant  not  to  obey  his  order,  but  that  having  given  this 
rder  he  went  away  and  does  not  know  what  happened  !  “  If 

ey  were  locked  up”!  Why  doesn’t  he  say  that  they  were 
ot  locked  up !  Why  doesn’t  he  say  that  the  attendant  well 
nderstood  that  they  were  not  to  be  locked  up?  Read  again 
le  direct,  positive  and  straightforward  testimony  of  Miss 
Idwards,  and  the  dodging,  equivocal  testimony  of  Dr.  Gris- 
>m,  and  then  see  if,  in  the  mind  of  any  fair  man,  there  can  be 
ay  doubt  of  the  truth  of  this  charge. 

The  next  case  to  which  I  call  your  attention  is  that  of 


ZEB.  WILLIAMS. 


1  J.  A.  Tucker  testifies: 


Do  You  know  Zeb.  Williams?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Did  you  ever  see  him  strapped?  A.  Yes,  sir;  he  was  strapped  for  fighting 
other  patient  who  was  sleeping  in  the  same  room  with  him. 

What  was  Williams  doing  at  the  time  he  was  strapped?  A.  He  was  lying 
'i  the  bed  quiet. 

k|Was  he  strapped  as  a  punishment?  A.  Yes,  sir;  he  was  strapped  as  a  pun- 
iment  for  fighting  another  patient. 

CROSS-EXAMINED. 

[Zeb.  ‘Williams  is  in  the  institution  now,  is  he?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

He  has  escaped  twice,  has  he  not?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

■  yiVhat  did  you  say  was  done  with  him  ?  A.  He  was  strapped  to  the  bed- 
sad  for  fighting  another  patient. 

*1  Mr.  Tucker,  while  on  the  witness  stand,  must  have  made  the 
’  pression  on  you  as  being  a  man  entirely  disinterested  and 
ithful.  He  is  now  chief  attendant  of  the  male  department, 
I  would  not  be  permitted  to  hold  this  responsible  position 
ay*  less  he  was  a  man  of  character.  Although  the  country  has 
attffc in  scoured  to  find  witnesses  to  testify  against  the  character  of  the 
it  off  messes  for  the  prosecution,  and  although  our  witnesses  have 
;attfp  subjected  to  the  most  searching  cross-examination,  not  one 


26 


word  lias  been  heard  against  the  good  character  or  truthfulness 
of  Mr.  Tucker.  He  therefore  stands  before  you  unimpeachec 
and  as  in  every  way  worthy  of  belief.  Mr.  Tucker  swears  in  os 
positively  that  some  time  after  the  patient  Williams  had  beei 
fighting  his  room-mate,  he  was  strapped  under  the  orders  of  Dr 
Grissom  as  a  punishment  for  what  he  had  done. 

Dr.  Grissom  testifies  in  regard  to  this  matter: 

“Zeb.  Williams  is  here  as  a  patient;  he  is  excitable;  he  has  never  been  mb 
treated  by  me.” 

He  does  not  deny  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Tucker,  but  simpb 
says,  “  he  was  never  mistreated  by  me.”  He  does  not  even  un 
dertake  to  get  rid  of  the  force  of  this  testimony  by  saying  that  h 
did  this  to  make  a  mental  impression.  His  majesty  seems  to  thin 
that  it  is  unbecoming  and  unnecessary  for  him  to  take  the  troubl 
to  deny  the  testimony  of  a  man  occupying  such  humble  position  e 
Mr.  Tucker.  He  simply  says,  “I  never  mistreated  him.”  I  at 
the  judge  of  what  is  mistreatment;  I  am  the  great  alienist !  M 
long  experience  has  taught  me.  what  is  proper  in  the  treatmei 
of  the  insane,  and  it  is  beneath  me  to  undertake  to  deny  or  e> 
plain  anything  that  may  be  charged  against  me,  even  though 
be  proved  by  the  testimony  of  an  honorable  witness. 

The  next  case  I  will  take  up  is  that  of 

MIKE  COSGROVE. 

Mr.  R.  I.  Hogan  testifies: 

Do  you  remember  Mike  Cosgrove  ?  (Objection — lgave  is  given  to  put  C< 
grove’s  name  in  specifications  and  he  is  added  to  the  specifications). 

What  kind  of  a  patient  was  he — was  he  a  violent  one  or  otherwise?  A.  1 
was  right  easy. 

Did  you  ever  see  him  strapped?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Under  whose  orders — Dr.  Grissom’s  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

About  what  time?  A.  In  the  latter  part  of  1885. 

For  what  was  he  strapped?  A.  For  abusing  the  Superintendent  and  cu 
ing  him.  The  Superintendent  was  coming  through  the  institution  wh< 
Cosgrove  was  and  he  got  to  cursing  and  running  around  him  and  he  follow 
him  to  the  lower  end  of  the  hall;  then  he  was  ordered  to  be  strapped. 

How  long  was  he  strapped?  A.  Until  the  next  morning. 


27 


CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

Now  with  regard  to  Cosgrove  you  say  that  Dr.  Grissom  came  into  the  ward 
id  Cosgrove  cursed  him,  and  followed  him?  Yes,  sir. 

Was  he  a  violent  man?  A.  No,  sir;  nothing  more  than  talking. 

I  ask  you  whether  a  man  strapped  in  that  way  cannot  sleep?  A.  Well  if 
3  was  really  sleepy  he  might  perhaps  a  few  minutes  at  the  time. 

Did  these  straps  hurt  the  patients?  A.  It  depends  upon  how  tight  they 
ere  put  on.  When  patient  will  lie  right  still  they  will  not  hurt.  The  object 
'  strapping  is  to  make  them  lie  still. 

There  is  that  poor,  insane  roan  strapped  to  the  bedstead  all 
ight  long — tied  hand  and  foot,  limbs  and  body,  so  that  it  was 
apossible  for  him  to  move  a  single  muscle  except  in  turning 
is  head  from  side  to  side,  and  able,  perhaps,  to  lift  his  head 
if  two  inches  above  the  pillow.  True,  he  had  abused  and 
irsed  the  Superintendent,  but  it  is  also  true  that  by  the  dis¬ 
sipation  of  Divine  Providence  he  could  no  more  control  his 
ords  or  his  actions  than  he  could  move  a  mountain.  When  a 
Ian  learns  to  control  himself  then  he  is  no  longer  insane  and 
(is  institution  is  no  place  for  him. 

I  Strapped  !  and  asleep  !  How  could  he  sleep  !  Imagine  your- 

If  under  the  most  advantageous  circumstances  (circumstances 

flch,  by  the  way,  did  not  exist  in  the  case  of  poor  Mike  Cos- 

ove),  lying  flat  on  your  back  upon  the  most  elegant  hair  mat- 

;ss  with  steel  springs  underneath,  a  soft  and  downy  pillow, 

th  your  hands  fastened  across  your  breast,  with  straps  running 

>m  each  arm  around  the  bedstead,  with  a  strap  running  around 

3  middle  of  your  body,  a  strap  around  your  thighs,  a  strap 

ound  your  legs,  with  each  foot  fastened  to  one  of  the  lower 

I'ners  of  the  bedstead,  a  strap  around  the  upper  portion  of 

|ar  body  near  the  neck,  and  all  of  these  straps  fastened  tightly 

■  the  bedstead  so  that  you  would  be  utterly  unable  to  move  a 

iscle  of  your  body  except  to  move  the  head  from  side  to  side 

1  to  lift  it  perhaps  two  inches  from  your  pillow.  Imagine 

* 

Iirself  in  perfect  health  and  with  strong  nerves;  place  your- 
/es,  gentlemen,  in  this  position  for  one  hour,  and  I  venture 
ivsay  that  when  you  have  done  so  you  will  have  tasted  the  tor- 


28 


tures  of  purgatory.  Go  further;  lie  in  this  position  for  oik 
night,  let  your  room  be  as  pleasant  as  possible,  let  the  balmj 
breezes  fan  your  fevered  brow,  and  when  the  bright  sun  rises  ii 
the  east,  and  throws  its  first  rays  into  your  window — even  nude 
these  circumstances,  I  say,  you  will  have  realized  that  you  hav 
undergone  in  that  one  night  the  sufferings  of  the  damned.  Ha 
he  murdered  anybody  ?  Has  he  committed  any  arson  ?  Ha 
he  violated  the  virtue  of  any  pure  woman?  No,  indeed  ! 

He  has  done  none  of  these  things,  but  he  has  cursed  the  Super 
intendent !  Unpardonable  sin  !  Under  the  wise  and  beneficen 
laws  of  North  Carolina,  even  though  he  may  have  violated  ever 
criminal  law  of  the  land,  because  he  was  iusane,  because  he  coul< 
not  control  himself,  the  State  did  not  and  could  not  punish  hin: 
but  held  out  to  him  the  hand  of  mercy  and  pity.  But  thi 
humane  man — this  great  and  tender-hearted  philanthropist — 
know  he  is  humane — I  know  he  is  tender-hearted — because  hi 
couusel  say  so — simply  because  he  cursed  him,  tied  this  poc 
man  hand  and  foot,  body  and  limb,  flat  on  his  back,  unable  t 
move  for  one  whole  night !  Short,  indeed,  may  have  seemed  thi 
night  to  this  great  and  tender-hearted  philanthropist,  but  oh 
how  long,  how  miserable  and  how  full  of  torture  must  it  ha\ 
been  to  poor  Mike  Cosgrove! 

Dr.  Grissom  says: 

“  Mike  Cosgrove  came  here  in  March,  1884.  He  was  a  native  of  Irelan 
Before  admitted  here  he  was  a  hard  drinker.  He  was  restless,  excitable  at 
violent.  He  would  sometimes  knock  his  head  against  the  wall  and  floor.  Oi 
evening  about  8  o’clock  he  was  strapped  to  the  bed.  Within  an  hour  he  w 
quiet  and  remained  so.  Restraint  was  the  only  way  by  which  he  could  be  rna 
to  rest  and  sleep.” 

Does  he  say  that  he  was  strapped  to  the  bed  because  he  w 
violent?  No!  He  had  read  Hogan’s  testimony  in  regard 
this  matter,  he  knew  what  Hogan  had  testified,  he  has  not  deni 
the  truth  of  Hogan’s  statement,  and  Hogan  says  that  it  w 
because  this  poor,  insane,  weak,  helpless  man  had  cursed  the  Supe 
intendent,  and  thereby  committed  what  seems  to  be  regarded 
this  institution  as  the  unpardonable  sin  !  There  is  the  case,  ge 


29 


emeu.  I  leave  it  in  your  hands.  Be  merciful  to  Dr.  Grissom  ! 
lemember  that  if  you  decide  against  him,  you  must  send  him 
•om  this  Asylum  in  disgrace.  Remember  his  wife  and  his  chil- 
ren,  and  that  his  disgrace  will  be  theirs  also,  and  acquit  him  if 
ou  can  !  But  in  the  name  of  humanity  I  call  upon  you  to  be 
lerciful  also  to  these  poor,  helpless  creatures  entrusted  to  your 
ire,  and  I  call  upon  you,  no  matter  how  many  masonic  regalias, 
o  matter  how  many  medical  honors  may  be  held  up  before  you 
)  dazzle  your  eyes  and  blind  you  with  their  brilliancy,  to  see  to 
that  no  man  shall  ever  hereafter  be  tied  hand  and  foot  on  his 
ack  all  night  as  a  punishment  for  what  he  could  not  help. 

We  will  next  take  the  case  of 

ROBT.  BARNETT. 

W.  J.  Crutchfield  testifies  : 

Do  you  know  a  man  by  the  name  of  Barnett,  a  patient?  A.  Yes,  sir;  Robert 
irnett. 

Did  you  ever  see  Barnett,  this  insane  man,  strapped  under  the  orders  of  Dr. 
i'issom  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

What  was  that  done  for?  A.  I  do  not  know  what  it  was  done  for. 

When  was  it?  A.  Something  over  a  year  ago. 

Were  you  present?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Was  Dr.  Grissom?  A.  Yes,  sir;  partof  the  time;  I  do  not  think  he  stayed 
;:il  we  got  through. 

What  was  Barnett  doing?  A.  Barnett  was  being  strapped  when  I  first  saw 

b. 

)id  he  make  any  resistance?  A.  He  was  excited  and  talking  and  he  did 
ii  resist. 

low  long  did  he  remain  strapped  ?  A.  I  do  not  know  ;  he  was  released 
Dre  supper  sometime. 

CROSS-EXAMINED. 

II 

obert  Barnett  was  a  powerful  man,  was  he  not?  A.  I  think  he  was  a 
erful  man,  but  not  a  powerful  man  according  to  his  size;  he  weighed  about 
hundred  pounds. 

<Tas  he  known  as  a  tighter?  A.  Yes,  sir;  when  I  came  here  that  was  his 
!'  utation. 

J  e  has  been  transferred  to  the  Morganton  Asylum,  has  he  not?  A.  Yes,  sir. 
j  hen  was  it  he  was  strapped?  A.  I  do  not  know  ;  he  was  not  in  my  ward 
I  a  he  was  strapped. 


30 


Dr.  Grissom  testifies: 

“  Robert  Barnett  was  admitted  in  December,  1874,  and  was  transferred 
Morganton  in  1888.  He  belonged  to  the  class  of  criminally  insane.  He  lit 
been  tried  on  a  serious  criminal  charge.  He  was  restrained ;  it  was  not  do: 
as  a  punishment,  but  to  try  to  impress  upon  him  the  propriety  of  better  conduct.” 

He  was  sent  to  this  Asylum  because  under  the  beneficent  lav 
of  North  Carolina,  being  insane,  he  was  not  responsible  for  whs 
he  had  done.  The  State  said  to  him,  “  You  do  not  deserve  pus 
ishment,  but  you  are  entitled  to,  and  shall  have  pity!”  T1 
State  sends  him  here  to  this  “  father  ”  as  he  appeared  to  the  preacl 
ers  in  his  Sunday  dress*— this  tender-hearted  philanthropist  of  tl 
opposing  counsel — to  administer  to  him  comfort,  solace,  relie 
Did  he  get  it?  Better  far  abolish  that  rule  of  law  which  excus 
and  declines  to  punish  those  who  are  not  responsible  for  the 
acts  and  send  them  to  the  penitentiary  to  wear  the  striped  cloth! 
of  disgrace  and  handle  the  pick-axe  than  to  turn  them  over 
the  care  and  keeping  of  this  tender-hearted  father  of  the  unfo 
tunate. 

Does  Dr.  Grissom  say  this  man  was  restrained  because  he  w 
dangerous?  Does  he  say  that  he  was  restrained  because  he  w 
violent  to  himself  or  to  others?  No!  “It  was  not  done  as 
punishment,”  says  Dr.  Grissom,  “but  to  try  to  impress  up 
him  the  propriety  of  better  conduct.”  What  are  people  sent 
jail  for?  When  a  man  has  been  found  guilty  of  stealing 
horse  and  the  judge  sentences  him  to  a  term  of  years  in  the  pei 
tentiary,  is  it  not  to  impress  upon  him  “  the  propriety  of  bet 
conduct”?  Is  it  not  to  produce  upon  him  such  a  “  mental  i 
pression  ”  that  he  will  steal  no  more  horses?  “Oh!  no,”  si 
Dr.  Grissom,  “  I  did  not  punish  this  man  because  he  cursed  n 
I  simply  subjected  him  to  the  tortures  of  the  bed  strap  in  on 
to  impress  upon  him  the  propriety  of  better  conduct.”  I 
obliged  to  say  that  I  have  a  perfect  contempt  for  such  a  subt 
fuge ! 

Mr.  Guthrie,  who  was  examined  as  a  witness  for  Dr.  Griss< 
in  giving  an  account  of  his  insanity  and  his  sojourn  at  this  A 


31 


im,  told  us  that  even  in  his  worst  condition  when  his  imagina- 
on  was  running  wild  as  a  young  horse  upon  the  prairie,  when 
elusions  and  hallucinations  were  flitting  across  his  mind,  one 
fter  another  in  endless  numbers,  and  when  he  was  entirely  be- 
ond  his  own  control,  he  was  keenly  sensitive  to  his  surroundings, 
ad  that  to  this  day  every  word  and  every  act  said  or  done  by 
imself  or  others  was  indelibly  impressed  upon  his  mind.  So 
e  have  been  taught,  gentlemen,  by  Dr.  Grissom’s  own  witness 
iat  the  insane  are  as  susceptible  and  as  sensitive  to  bad  treat- 
ient  as  other  persons  and  that  in  fact  about  the  only  difference 
atween  a  sane  and  an  insane  person  is  that  the  one  has  con- 
ol  of  his  mind,  while  the  other  has  not.  And  if  we  had 
iy  doubt  of  it  before  we  heard  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Guthrie, 
e  must  know  now  that  poor  Mike  Cosgrove,  while  in  the 
abrace  of  that  cruel  instrument  of  torture,  must  have  suffered 
you  or  I  would.  I  now  leave  this  case  also  in  your  hands, 
ilo  not  ask  you  to  convict  Dr.  Grissom  upon  this  charge.  Read 
e  evidence,  consider  the  circumstances,  bear  in  mind  the  solemn 
ligations  which  rest  upon  you.  Do  not  forget  the  sacred  duty 
lich  you  have  been  called  upon  to  perform,  and  if  you  can 
pit  Dr.  Grissom,  do  so.  Save  him  if  you  can. 

The  next  case  I  desire  to  call  to  your  particular  attention  is 
it  of 

J.  C.  HERVEY. 

;W.  J.  Crutchfield  testifies : 

That  is  your  occupation?  A.  An  attendant  at  the  male  ward  at  this  insti- 
jon. 

;>o  you  know  a  patient  by  the  name  of  Hervey?  A.  I  do,  J.  C.  Hervev. 

'id  you  ever  see  him  receive  any  unusual  treatment  in  the  hands  of  Dr. 
iSom?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

'hen  ?  A.  In  1887  while  I  was  ward  attendant. 

•  ate  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  that.  A.  Dr.  Grissom  told  a  col- 
man  to  slam  him  down  on  the  bed.  He  was  talking  very  vulgar  to  Dr. 
som  about  Dr.  Grissom’s  wife. 

hat  else  did  he  do?  A.  He  spit  at  him.  He  was  somewhat  excited. 

1  servant  had  slammed  him  on  the  bed.  He  took  him  and  slammed  him 
le  bed  and  he  lay  there  awhile.  He  then  got  up  and  at  Dr.  Grissom,  then 


32 


the  servant  was  ordered  to  slam  him  down  again.  He  spit  at  Dr.  Grissc 
when  he  got  up  the  first  time.  He  did  not  spit  at  him  before  that  time.  T 
time.  The  Doctor  put  his  foot  on  his  body  about  the  hip. 

Hervey  was  an  epileptic  patient,  was  he  not?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

He  had  his  bed  on  the  floor?  A.  Yes,  sir,  when  he  was  on  his  bed  he  w 
on  the  floor. 

CROSS-EXAMINED. 

Hervey  was  an  epileptic  patient;  was  he  violent?  A.  At  times  he  was. 

You  say  on  one  occasion  Dr.  Grissom  went  into  his  room.  Did  he  not  ma 
an  attempt  of  violence  against  Dr.  Grissom  ?  A.  No,  sir. 

You  say  he  spoke  against  Dr.  Grissom  and  his  wife  most  obscenely  a 
filthily?  A.  Hedid.  Dr.  Grissom  ordered  the  attendant  to  slam  him  on  t 
floor.  A  colored  man  slammed  him  down.  His  name  was  A.  Goss.  He  « 
then  allowed  to  get  up.  He  spit  at  Dr.  Grissom  and  he  took  him  by  t 
shoulders  and  jerked  him  down  on  the  bed  and  put  his  foot  on  him.  He  < 
not  put  his  foot  on  him  the  first  time.  It  was  when  he  spit  at  Dr.  Grissi 
when  he  was  slammed  down  the  second  time. 

Was  he  injured  in  any  wav  ?  A.  I  did  not  discover  that  he  was. 

Dr.  Grissom  testifies  :  • 

“  Mr.  Hervey  was  admitted  July  3, 1883;  is  here  now.  He  is  violent  attii 
in  a  spasmodic  sort  of  way.  I  remember,  on  one  occasion,  in  passing  through 
ward,  he  made  a  sudden  demonstration  of  violence  toward  me,  using  the  m 
vulgar  and  indecent  language  about  my  wife.  For  a  moment  I  was  exceedir. 
angry.  There  was  so  much  insubordination  in  the  wards  that  I  was  m 
susceptible  to  anger  than  I  otherwise  would  have  been.  I  ordered  theserv 
to  throw  him  on  the  floor.  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  impress  on  him  the  impropr 
of  using  vulgar  language,  but  did  not  intend  to  hurt  him,  and  he  showed 
signs  of  being  hurt,  and  was  not  hurt.” 

“  When  attendants  receive  insulting  and  abusive  langu! 
they  must  keep  cool  and  forbear  to  recriminate  or  threat! 
Violent  hands  shall  never  be  laid  upon  patients  under  any  pro! 
cation,”  say  the  by-laws  of  this  institution. 

So  anxious  were  the  directors  of  this  institution  that  the  unll 
tuuate  insane  should  be  properly  and  humanely  cared  for  tfl 
in  their  by-laws,  which  were  required  to  be  placed  in  the  hafl 
of  every  attendant,  and  so  afraid  were  they  that  some  attend! 
should  under  some  great  provocation  lose  his  temper  and! 
unkind  to  the  poor,  helpless  unfortunates  in  their  charge,  tjfl 


33 


[ireeted  in  plain  and  simple  but  forcible  language  that  when 
ttendants  receive  insulting  and  abusive  language  they  must 
:eep  cool  and  forbear  to  recriminate  or  threaten,  and  that 
iolent  hands  should  never  be  laid  upon  patients  under  any 
revocation.  I  take  for  granted  that  it  never  occurred  to  the 
uthor  of  these  by-laws  that  any  physician  acquainted  with  the 
ature  of  insanity  would  need  any  directions,  any  law,  to  make 
im  kind  and  humane.  With  that  law  before  him  this  great 

Iian,  this  tender-hearted  philanthropist,  covered  all  over  with 
ledical,  masonic  and  Christian  honors,  says  : 

“On  passing  through  The  ward,  he  made  a  sudden  demonstration  of  vio- 
nce  towards  me,  using  the  most  vulgar  and  indecent  language  about  my  wife. 
3r  a  moment  1  was  exceedingly  angry.  I  ordered  the  servant  to  throw  him  on 
e  floor.  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  impress  on  him  the  impropriety  of  using  vulgar 
nguage ! ” 

Is  there  anything  in  the  by-laws  of  this  institution  which  can 
;  construed  as  allowing  the  Superintendent  to  do  what  is  ex- 
■essly  forbidden  to  the  attendants  ?  Could  it  ever  have  occurred 
!  any  man  that  this  Superintendent  who  boasts  of  his  national 
putation  would  be  more  wanting  in  humanity  to  the  patients 
jider  his  charge  than  the  attendants,  “fresh  from  the  cornfield,” 
one  of  the  opposing  counsel  says?  If  poor  Hervey  had  vio- 
;ed  every  criminal  law  of  the  land  his  diseased  brain  was  a 

Ifficient  and  ample  excuse  and  he  would  have  gone  unpunished. 
:>ut,  ”  says  the  Superintendent,  “no  insane  wretch  shall  use  in 
r  presence  vulgar  language  in  regard  to  my  wife,  and  hope  to 
ape  the  close  embraces  of  the  bed  strap.  Instead  of  getting 
*ry  with  poor  Hervey  and  punishing  him  ,for  what  he  could 
;  help  the  large,  tender  and  sympathetic  heart  of  the  great 
issom  should  have  swelled  with  pity  at  the  misfortune  of  Her- 
11 1 7.  He  should  have  tenderly  taken  him  by  the  hand  and  said  : 

1  will  care  for  you,  I  will  administer  to  your  diseased  brain,  I 
1  1  be  a  physician,  a  friend  and  a  father  to  you,  I  will,  by  all 
1(1  means  known  to  science,  earnestly  endeavor  to  relieve  your 
™  distress  and  ere  long  return  you,  if  possible,  to  the  bosom  of 

pil  ir  family.”  And  then,  when  the  day’s  work  was  over  and 

3 


34 


he  was  about  to  lie  down  to  rest  from  his  weary  labors,  as  lu 
kneeled  by  his  bed  in  humble  supplication  to  the  great  and  lov¬ 
ing  God  and  repeated  that  prayer  which  had  been  taught  him  ii 
his  childhood  at  his  mother’s  knee — “Forgive  us  our  trespass© 
as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us,  ”  he  would  not  hav< 
called  up,  as  by  that  prayer  he  now  must  invoke,  the  spirits  o 
these  poor,  unfortunate  people  to  stand  between  him  and  his  Go< 
in  his  pleadings  for  heavenly  mei’cy.  “  Forgive  us  our  tres 
passes  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us.  ” 

These  unfortunate  people  did  what  they  had  no  power  t 
refrain  from.  To  punish  them  for  their  conduct — “to  makeai 
impression  upon  their  minds” — I  dashed  water  in  their 'faces, 
delivered  them  to  the  cruel  embraces  of  the  bed  strap.  I  stamp© 
my  foot  upon  their  necks.  Now,  Lord,  as  I  have  done  to  Mis 
Mary  Foy,  to  Hervey,  to  Upchurch  and  to  others  in  my  powe 
and  keeping,  even  so,  Oh!  Lord,  do  not  do  unto  me!  In  th 
mercy  deal  not  out  justice  to  me.  I  became  exceedingly  angr 
the  temptation  was  greater  than  I  could  bear.  I  beseech  th© 
in  thy  mercy,  not  to  impress  upon  me  the  impropriety  of  m 
conduct  by  putting  thv  foot  upon  my  neck  and  dashing  me  i 
the  floor  of  the  bottomless  pit ! 

The  next  case  which  I  present  for  your  consideration  is  that  < 

HENRY  CONE. 

Mr.  D.  Iv.  Farrell  testifies: 

• 

Do  you  know  a  man  named  Cone,  a  patient?  A.  I  did  ;  his  name  was  Hen 
Cone. 

Do  you  know  anything  unusual  in  the  treatment  of  Henry  Cone?  If 
state  all  you  know  about  it.  A.  Well,  I  think  I  do,  sir;  I  think  it  was 
August,  1888,  it  may  be  September,  on  one  occasion  the  Superintendent  a 
Mr.  Hogan,  the  chief  attendant,  came  to  the  ward,  this  patient  was  locked 
a  room,  the  Superintendent  told  Hogan  to  unlock  the  door,  and  Hogan  wait 
in  and  Cone  jumped  at  Superintendent,  and  I  think  struck  at  him  and  pro 
bly  glanced  him,  and  the  Superintendent  jumped  at  him,  and  struck  him  £ 
threw  him  down  and  got  on  him  and  choked  him;  he  then  asked  for  a  pitehe: 
water,  the  servant  brought  a  pitcher  of  water  and  the  Superintendent  1 
about  a  gallon  of  water  poured  in  his  face  and  he  lay  there.  It  did  not  se 
to  arouse  him  any.  and  the  Superintendent  walked  out  and  left  him. 


35 


Who  was  there  besides  the  Superintendent?  A.  The  chief  attendant,  myself 
ind  the  servant. 

How  many  men  did  it  take  to  overcome  him  and  get  him  on  the  floor?  A. 
[  should  think  it  ought  not  to  have  required  more  than  one  ;  he  was  small,  but 
•ather  stout;  the  Superintendent  threw  him  down,  I  think  alone;  Hogan  was 
here. 


What  did  you  see  him  do  when  he  got  him  down  ?  A.  He  choked  him 
leverely  perhaps  for  something  like  a  minute. 

Was  Cone  struggling?  A.  Yes,  sir;  he  went  to  get  up,  no  one  laid  hands 
in  him  but  the  Superintendent,  who  called  for  a  pitcher  of  water  and  poured 
t  in  his  face;  I  think  it  was  a  gallon  pitcher;  he  remarked  that  he  would  see 
f  it  would  stop  him  from  making  those  attacks  on  people  when  they  are  in  the 
•oom  ;  he  paid  no  attention  to  the  water  and  the  Superintendent  left  the  room 
vhen  he  was  in  that  condition. 

What  became  of  Cone  after  that?  A.  Well,  he  got  up  after  that.  I  do  not 
mow  how  long  he  was  in  an  excited  condition;  no  attendant  was  left  in  the 
oom  with  him. 

Do  you  remember  whether  or  not  that  treatment  had  any  effect  upon  the 
disposition  of  Cone?  A.  Not  at  all,  sir,  that  I  could  see  for  either  better  or 
torse. 

CROSS-EXAMINED. 


Henry  Cone  was  a  patient  when  you  first  came  here?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Do  you  know  how  long  he  had  been  a  patient  at  the  institution?  A.  I  do 
;ot,  sir. 

Do  you  know  that  he  was  here  in  1883?  A.  No,  sir. 

Was  he  not  a.  very  peculiar  patient?  Did  he  not  have  the  habit  of  jumping  at 
ersons?  A.  I  do  not  know  that  he  jumped  at  patients  particularly,  but  he 
onld  spring  upon  any  one  when  he  was  locked  in  his  room. 

I  ask  you  if  he  had  not  on  that  very  occasion  sprung  upon  the  Superin- 
rndent?  A.  I  do  not  know  that  he  had. 

Do  you  know  if  he  made  a  spring  at  him  when  he  went  in  the  room  th^t 
orning?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

;  Did  the  Superintendent  and  he  get  into  a  struggle?  A.  Not  much  of  a 
iruggle;  the  Superintendent  got  him  down  and  choked  him. 

Then  he  called  for  water  and  got  a  pitcher  of  water  and  threw  it  in  his  face 
inself?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

I  do  not  suppose  you  have  been  the  superintendent  of  an  asylum  ?  A.  No, 

r 

Do  you  not  know  that  throwing  water  is  a  manner  of  treatment?  A.  No, 
Ijr;  I  do  not. 

j  .  I 

IJ.  A.  Norwood  testifies  : 

Did  yon  know  Henry  Cone?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

I  Hn  '  1 


36 


Do  you  remember  any  unusual  treatment  of  this  patient  by  the  Superin. 
tendent?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

When  was  it?  A.  In  the  year  1883,  the  year  I  came  here. 

Tell  all  the  particulars  you  know  about  it.  A.  The  Superintendent  came 
into\the  ward  one  evening  with  some  visitors,  he  and  the  chief  attendant,  and 
he  turned  to  go  back  and  right  at  the  dining-room  door  I  looked  back  and  saw 
the  patient,  Henry  Cone,  and  him  up  there  in  a  tussle.  I  got  up  there  and 
took  hold  of  the  patient  myself,  and  the  Superintendent  looked  like  he  tried 
to  choke  him.  He  put  his  hand  on  his  throat  and  every  time  he  would  grab 
at  his  throat  he  would  catch  the  patient  by  the  chin.  He  told  me  to  take  him 
down  to  his  room  and  whistled  for  the  servant.  I  carried  the  patient  in  tin 
patient’s  room,  and  he  said  slam  him  down  on  the  bed,  and  I  laid  him  on  the 
bed  and  held  his  hands,  and  he  got  down  on  his  knees  on  the  edge  of  the  bee 
and  choked  him  with  both  hands  as  I  was  holding  him. 

Did  you  have  any  difficulty  in  holding  patient?  A.  I  held  him  verj 
easily. 

How  did  he  choke  him?  A.  He  put  both  hands  around  his  neck.  Thei 
he  said  let  him  get  up.  At  first  he  had  no  use  of  himself,  he  seemed  to  be  a 
limber  as  a  dish-rag  and  about  half  a  minute  beseemed  to  make  off  at  Dr.  Gris 
som  and  he  said  slam  him  down  again,  damn  him.  About  that  time  the  servan 
came  in  and  held  his  feet;  I  had  his  hands.  Dr.  Grissom  put  his  foot  on  hi 
neck  and  mashed  down  on  him,  then  he  took  his  foot  off  and  asked  if  I  ha< 
any  water.  I  told  him  I  did  and  he  went  and  got  a  bucket  himself  and  thre\ 
a  bucket  of  water  in  Cone’s  face.  Then  he  told  me  to  go  out  and  pull  th 
door  to  and  let  him  be. 

Where  did  you  leave  him?  A.  On  the  bed. 

What  was  his  condition?  A.  He  did  not  seem  to  have  any  use  of  himse! 
when  I  lgft  him  ;  Dr.  Grissom  went  out  of  the  ward  and  in  about  five  minutes 
turned  him  out  of  the  ward  through  the  dining-room  and  he  came  out  of  th 
centre  building.  Dr.  Grissom  came  back  and  started  through  the  ward, 
was  with  him  in  there  and  got  into  Cone’s  room,  and  I  called  attention  to  D 
Grissom  that  Cone  was  in  there,  and  went  in  and  when  we  raised  the  patiet 
up  he  did  not  seem  to  have  any  use  of  himself  then.  Then  I  held  him  u 
there  and  in  a  very  short  time  he  seemed  to  get  better.  Then  he  walked  ovi 
to  the  Superintendent  and  the  Superintendent  asked  him  if  he  thought  he  w: 
going  to  fight  any  more.  He  looked  like  he  wanted  to  lay  his  head  on  h 
breast,  and  did  sorter  lay  his  head  up  there  and  began  to  cry  and  said  th 
lemonade  made  him  drunk,  and  Dr.  Grissom  said  water  made  some  peop 
drunker  than  whisky  did  others.  Then  Dr.  Grissom  went  on  back  out  of  ti 
ward  again  and  Cone  went  out  in  the  hall  and  took  a  seat  on  the  bench. 

When  he  wras  strapped  it  was  as  a  punishment?  A.  I  suppose  so. 

When  Cone  was  punished  that  was  a  punishment  for  fighting,  was  it? 
Yes,  sir;  several  have  been  strapped  since  I  have  been  here. 

Do  you  remember  the  names?  A.  Kenneday  and  Williams;  I  do  not : 
member  others  now.  i 


37 


CROSS-EXAMINED. 

At  the  time  that  Henry  Cone,  as  you  say,  was  choked  and  slammed  down  on 
the  bed  and  had  a  bucket  of  water  thrown  in  his  face  by  Dr.  Grissom,  what 
other  persons  were  present?  A.  The  servant  was  in  there  when  he  dashed 
the  water  in  his  face  and  saw  him  put  his  foot  on  his  neck;  the  servant  had 
not  got  to  the  room  when  he  choked  him  with  his  hand. 

Did  the  servant  hear  him  curse  him?  A.  I  reckon  he  did;  he  was  in  the 
room  at  the  time. 

Did  you  say  in  your  direct  examination  you  saw  him  that  same  afternoon 
Out  in  the  ward  sitting  on  a  bench?  A.  I  said  that  afterwards  when  the  Super¬ 
intendent  came  in  he  walked  off  across  the  hall  and  sat  on  a  bench. 

How  long  after  he  was  mistreated,  as  you  say,  before  you  saw  him  sitting  on 
he  bench  in  the  ward?  A.  Ten  or  twelve  minutes. 

Were  there  any  bruises?  A.  Ho  bruises. 

Did  he  require  medical  treatment  or  receive  medical  treatment  for  the 
njuries  inflicted  upon  him  by  Dr.  Grissom?  A.  No,  sir. 

Do  you  know  that  Henry  Cone  is  in  the  habit  of  suddenly  springing  upon 
isitors,  attendants  and  others  that  come  near  him?  A.  I  have  known  it  to 
>e  the  case  several  times. 

Do  you  know  that  upon  this  occasion  he  sprang  upon  Dr.  Grissom  suddenly? 
1.  I  suppose  so;  they  were  together  when  I  saw  them. 

Do  you  not  know  that  he  is  on  the  average  above  the  ordinary  strength,  and 
,'hen  he  gets  in  a  paroxysm  is  he  not  a  very  strong  man  ?  A.  I  think  he  is  a 
ery  strong  man  according  to  his  size. 

Dr.  Grissom  testifies: 


“Henry  Cone  was  admitted  here  Nov.  19,  1883.  He  was  a  peculiar  patient ; 
ad  the  habit  of  jumping  on  and  choking  people;  made  assaults  of  that  kind 
a  me  several  times.  On  one  occasion  he  jumped  on  me  very  suddenly.  I 
>ok  hold  of  hirmas  he  jumped  at  me  with  both  hands,  one  on  each  side  of  his 
isck,  taking  him  in  that  position  for  the  purpose  of  checking  him.  On  occa- 
ons  of  attack  his  face  would  become  suffused  and  his  eyes  red  with  conges- 
on.  I  found  the  easiest  way  to  subdue  him  was  to  take  him  on  each  side  of 
e  neck  with  both  hands.  He  was  in  the  habit,  when  quieted  in  that  way,  of 
igning  a  sort  of  collapse,  and  generally  seemed  to  be  in  a  sudden  good  humor, 
•a  the  occasion  alluded  to,  I  suppose,  he  seemed  rather  persistently  violent, 
id  I  either  threw  him  or  directed  him  to  be  thrown  on  the  floor.  He  con- 
med  his  struggle,  and  I  ordered  some  water  and  threw  it  in  his  face  with  a 
ew  to  making  a  deep  mental  impression  upon  him,  that  other  restraints 
;med  not  to  have,  and  with  no  view  of  punishment  or  torture.  He  then 
■  sumed  his  collapsed  condition,  and  seemed  entirely  submissive.  I  left  and 
:rn  saw  him  sitting  out  in  the  reception  room  quite  as  well  as  when  in  his 
’id  intervals.  There  was  not  a  scar  upon  him  and  he  was  not  hurt  physi- 


38 


eally.  He  is  now  much  improved.  The  sudden  attacks  have  almost  ceased 
and  he  frequently  assists  the  servant  in  cleaning  up  the  room  and  ward.  ] 
think,  in  some  cases,  insane  persons  can  resort  to  tricks  to  deceive  people 
Insanity  is  not  a  destruction  of  the  mind,  but  a  disease  of  the  mind.  It  is  n< 
more  a  death  of  the  mind  than  sickness  is  a  death  of  the  body.” 

“In  my  long  experience  in  handling  patients  safety  suggested  a  pressur 
upon  the  arteries  leading  to  the  brain  to  prevent  a  rnsh  of  blood,  and  in  con 
sequence  I  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  patients  by  the  neck,  with  one  hand  01 
each  side  of  it. 

“With  a  view  to  making  a  deep  mental  impression”  ! 

The  same  old  subterfuge !  When  Dr.  Grissom  punishes  as 
insane  man  he  calls  it  “making  a  mental  impression”  and  whe> 
he  punishes  him  severely  he  calls  it  “making  a  deep  menta 
impression.  ” 

In  this  case  there  are  two  witnesses,  Mr.  Farrell,  who  resigne 
“because  he  didn’t  like  the  business,”  and  Mr.  Norwood,  who  i 
still  an  attendant  here.  Neither  of  these  witnesses  has  bee 
impeached  in  any  way,  and  no  evidence  has  been  offered  to  sho1 
that  they  are  unworthy  of  belief,  and  therefore  their  evidenc 
is  before  you  as  worthy  of  credit.  Now,  gentlemen,  I  ask  you, 
two  men  should  get  to  fighting  out  on  the  court  green,  and  a  thir 
man  should  hold  one  of  these  two  and  one  of  the  combatan 
should  choke  the  other  thus  being  held,  wouldn’t  he  be  denounce 
as  a  coward  by  all  honorable  men? 

Dr.  Grissom  says  to  this  poor  insane  man,  Cone,  I  don’t  wai 
to  hurt  you,  old  fellow;  I  have  no  idea  of  punishing  you,  but 
am  going  to  make  an  impression  on  your  poor,  deluded  mind, 

I  have  to  choke  you  nigh  unto  death. 

“In  my  long  experience  in  handling  patients  safety  suggest* 
a  pressure  upon  the  arteries  leading  to  the  brain  to  prevent 
rush  of  blood,  and  in  consequence  I  was  in  the  habit  of  takii 
patients  by  the  neck,  with  one  hand  on  each  side  of  it.” 

Was  in  the  habit  of  doing  it !  But  he  simply  put  his  han 
on  the  sides  of  the  neck  in  order  to  prevent  a  rush  of  blood 
the  brain  ! — that  was  his  sole  purpose !  and  who  shall  dispi 
his  declaration  ?  For  he  is  a  great  and  wonderful  man,  givi 
light  as  it  were  to  all  the  medical  world  !  We  know  he  isgre 


39 


for  his  counsel  have  told  us  so  !  But  all  the  brains  of  this  earth 
do  not  rest  in  that  great  head  and  we  ourselves  have  some  little 
sense.  We  know  that  the  carotid  arteries,  leading  from  the 
heart  along  the  neck  to  the  brain,  are  protected  by  and  lie  immedi¬ 
ately  under  the  strong  muscles  of  the  neck ;  and  that  no  such 
gentle  pressure  as  that  described  by  Dr.  Grissom  could  stop  the 
rush  of  blood  along  these  arteries.  And  we  also  know  that  to 
3ontrol  the  amount  of  blood  going  to  the  brain  the  pressure 
nust  be  upon  the  arteries  alone,  and  not  upon  the  veins.  To 
accomplish  this  purpose  it  is  necessary  to  make  precise  and  defi- 
aite  pressure  with  the  end  of  the  thumb,  or  some  equivalent,  and 
dso  that  the  patient  shall  be  quiet — or  at  least  not  struggling, 
[f  you  grasp  a  struggling  patient  “  on  each  side  of  the  neck  with 
3>oth  hands”  you  may  indeed  accomplish  “  pressure  upon  the 
irteries,”  if  you  use  sufficient  force,  but  you  make  at  the  same 
ime  a  greater  pressure  upon  the  veins,  which  convey  the  blood 
rom  the  brain ;  and  thereby  you  prevent  the  outflow  of  the 
train’s  blood,  and  dam  it  up,  as  it  were,  in  the  brain.  Indeed, 
he  effect  is  closely  analogous  to  the  congested  condition  of  a 
nger  with  a  string  tied  around  it:  the  blood  goes  in  by  the 
rteries,  but  cannot  get  out  through  the  veins,  because  the  veins 
re  more  compressed  than  the  arteries  are.  This,  therefore, 
ould  produce  a  worse  condition  than  no  pressure  at  all.  This 
ii  the  most  absurd  and  ridiculous  story  we  have  yet  heard ! 
i  call  upon  the  counsel  on  the  other  side,  when  they  come 
)  reply  to  me,  to  tell  us  what  alienist,  even  amongst  those 
ho  are  the  most  enthusiastic  advocates  of  mechanical  restraint, 
as  ever  said  that  it  was  proper  under  any  circumstances, 
ccept  in  cases  of  necessary  self-defence,  to  choke  a  patient, 
ut  it  seems  that  this  great  authority — this  wonderful  man 
-loaded,  as  it  were,  with  regalias,  insignia  and  all  sorts  of 
mors,  civil,  military,  medical,  masonic  and  church — has  set 
mself  up  as  greater  and  more  learned  than  all  other  men, 

I  id  in  this  enlightened  age  oracularly  declares  that  in  order 
j,  make  a  deep  mental  impression  upon  an  insane  man  it  is 
oper  to  choke  him  until  his  breath  has  almost  gone,  and  then, 


40 


to  make  the  mental  impression  still  deeper,  dash  a  bucket  o 
water  in  his  face  !  And  it  is  no  wonder  that  after  such  treat 
meut  poor  Henry  Cone  “was  in  a  collapsed  condition.  ”  Th 
by-laws  direct  that  the  patients  shall  never  be  pushed,  collaret 
nor  rudely  handled,  and  that  violent  hands  shall  never  be  lai< 
upon  patients  under  any  provocation,  and  yet  we  find  that  th 
Superintendent  of  this  institution,  without  necessity  and  withou 
cause,  as  a  punishment  for  what  a  patient  had  done,  chokes  hin 
and  dashes  water  in  his  face  until,  as  the  Superintendent  himsel 
says,  he  was  in  a  collapsed  condition.  If  you  can  find  Di 
Grissom  innocent  of  this  charge,  by  all  means  do  so;  but  i 
order  to  do  so  you  must  find  that  the  three  witnesses,  Farrel 
Norwood  and  Grissom  himself,  have  committed  perjury  ! 

Would  you  like  for  one  who  is  dear  to  you,  who  should  b 
chance  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  placed  as  a  patient  in  this  inst 
tution,  to  be  treated  in  this  way?  If  you  would,  acquit  D 
Grissom. 

I  will  now  ask  you  to  consider  the  case  of 

MBS.  LOWTHER. 

Mrs.  B.  C.  Jones  for  die  defence  testifies: 

Were  you  ever  connected  with  this  institution?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

How  long  were  you  here?  A.  Not  quite  eighteen  years. 

What  position  did  you  Hold  here?  A.  Well,  when  I  first  came  I  was  ext 
attendant,  for  the  (first  few  years  filling  the  places  of  those  attendants  w 
were  away  or  off  duty  and  I  then  was  made  chief  attendant  after  about  fo 
years  in  the  female  ward. 

Did  your  business  as  chief  attendant  bring  you  in  company  often  when 
was  waiting  upon  the  patients?  A.  Very  frequently. 

Do  you  know  about  the  restraint  that  was  used  here  in  the  institution? 
Yes,  sir. 

When  was  the  restraint  by  strapping  the  patient  to  the  bed  used?  A. 
right  many  cases. 

Under  what  circumstances?  A.  When  they  were  violent  or  when  tl 
were  injurious  to  themselves  or  other  people  or  each  other. 

When  the  patient  was  restrained  to  the  bed  what  were  the  directions  of  I 
Superintendent  in  respect  to  resting  the  patients?  A.  They  were  to  be  tak 
up  and  rested  at  least  two  or  three  times  a  day. 


41 


>id  you  ever  know  of  any  one  to  be  restrained  without  being  rested?  A. 
rve  known  some  few  who  would  not  be  taken  up. 

)o  vou  remember  those  cases?  A.  There  used  to  be  a  Mrs.  Stvles  that 

"  f 

:1  to  be  restrained  and  she  was  so  violent  at  times  she  would  not  permit  any 
to  take  he«-  up. 

o  you  know  of  any  improvement  resulting  from  this  treatment  of  restraint 
;he  patients?  A.  Yes,  sir;  I  think  I  have  known  it  was  beneficial.  They 
roved  rapidly  afterwards,  some  did. 

ou  were  the  attendant  who  restrained  Mrs.  Lowther  under  the  directions  of 
Grissom,  are  you  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

o  you  remember  the  circumstances  under  which  she  was  restrained  ?  A.  I  do 
know  that  I  remember  every  part  of  it,  but  it  was  to  learn  her  to  control  her- 
\ some  way,  to  learn  obedience.  * 

hat  was  her  condition  in  respect  to  her  insanity  ?  A.  She  was  very  excitable, 
if  you  wished  her  to  do  anything  that  was  necessary  and  she  did  not  want  to 
t,  she  would  spit  upon  you  and  kick  you  ;  she  would  not  take  a  bath  or  'would 
go  in  and  eat. 

d  you  remember  the  time  she  was  restrained  (we  come  to  the  time  of  her 

-aint  before  her  death),  how  long  she  was  restrained  and  all  about  it,  if  she 

taken  up  and  rested  ?  A.  She  was  restrained  as  much  as  two  days,  and  as  usual 

rested  as  the  usual  patients. 

ow  often  ?  A.  As  much  as  twice  a  day. 

d  you  see  her  after  she  was  released  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

d  she  go  in  her  room  and  take  her  bath  ?  A.  She  took  her  bath  in  her  room, 
hat  was  her  condition  afterwards  ?  A.  Just  as  it  was  before,  as  far  I  have 
pvered. 

)w  long  did  she  live?  A.  She  did  not  live  more  than  two  or  three  hours,  I 
s ;  I  could  not  exactly  tell  the  time. 

as  there  any  evidence  of  any  injury  by  restraint?  A.  None  in  the  world, 
as  the  restraint  in  her  case  as  usual  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

CROSS-EXAMINED. 

Inderstand  you  to  say  that  Mrs.  Lowther  was  strapped  as  long  as  two  da3*s  ? 
es,  sir. 

w  long  was  it  after  the  release,  the  last  time,  before  she  died?  A.  I  guess 
;s  two  or  three  hours  ;  I  am  not  exactly  certain  about  it. 
rat  was  Mrs.  Lowther  strapped  for?  A.  I  do  not  remember  the  very  thing 
b$s  strapped  for. 

sk  you  if  she  was  not  restrained  on  Thursday  and  did  not  remain  restrained 
day  evening?  A.  She  was  released  on  Saturday.  I  do  not  remember  the 
■  he  was  restrained. 

s  she  not  kept  there  Friday  night,  and  were  not  the  orders  not  to  release  her 
ii  she  would  agree  to  bathe  ?  A.  I  do  not  remember  that. 

.  you  say  that  Mrs.  Lowther  was  or  was  not  a  violent  patient  ?  A.  I  said 
}j  as  violent  and  excitable  sometimes. 

■I  W.  Thompson,  recalled  by  the  prosecution,  testifies  : 


42 


Do  you  know  when  Mrs.  Lowther  was  a  patient  in  the  institution?  A. 
March,  1885. 

Do  you  know  the  contents  of  the  report  in  regard  to  her  being  strapped? 

I  recollect  a  portion  of  them  very  distinctly. 

State  what  that  was.  A.  I  recollect  reading  the  report  that  she  was  strap 
to  her  bed  either  for  spitting  at  the  Superintendent  or  for  cursing  him. 

How  long  was  she  strapped  ?  A.  For  as  much  as  two  days  ;  I  remember  ri 
ing  it  two  nights.  I  recollect  distinctly  that  Mrs.  Lowther  was  released  and  d 

What  time  of  day  was  she  released  ?  A.  I  cannot  recall  exactly.  She  diei 
the  afternoon. 

She  was  strapped  to  the  bed  two  days  for  spitting  at  the  Superintendent 
she  remained  for  two  days,  and  on  the  same  day  she  was  released  she  died? 
Yes,  sir.  « 

i  , 

Question  by  Dr.  Foote: 

I  wish  to  know  whether  the  witness  intended  to  convey  the  idea  that  she 
continuously  strapped  to  bed  ?  A.  I  do  not  recollect  that  the  report  stated 
she  was  released  during  that  time. 

How  old  was  Mrs.  Lowther?  A.  She  was  more  than  fifty  years  old. 

CROSS-EXAMINED. 

This  old  Mrs.  Lowther  was  strapped  to  the  bed  ?  A.  That  is  what  the  re 
said. 

As  to  this  you  have  no  personal  knowledge  ?  A.  No,  sir  ;  it  was  what  the  re 
said.  I  recollect  I  read  it  before  the  officers  of  the  institution. 

Is  it  the  duty  of  the  attendants  to  report  all  discipline  of  the  patients  tc 
officers  ?  A.  They  do  ;  that  is  their  duty.  These  reports  were  received  by  mt 
matron  received  them  from  the  female  department  and  the  steward  from  the 
department,  and  there  was  a  stated  time  for  reading  them. 

Who  were  the  attendants  when  Mrs.  Lowther  was  strapped  ?  A.  I  dc 
know,  sir. 

Who  was  her  attendant,  Mrs.  B.  C.  Jones  ?  A.  I  am  not  positive. 

Is  she  an  employee  of  the  institution  now?  A. .No,  sir;  she  has  been 
more  than  a  year ;  the  last  time  I  heard  of  her  she  lived  at  or  near  Ral 

Don’t  you  know  she  was  a  citizen  of  Granville  county?  A.  I  do  not. 

Who. was  the  night  attendant?  A.  I  do  not  recollect,  sir. 

Who  made  the  report  about  the  strapping?  A1  The  attendant  of  the  wa 
do  not  remember  the  name. 

State,  if  you  please,  why  it  is  that  you  can  remember  the  substance  o 
report  and  cannot  remember  the  name  of  the  attendant  making  the  report 
As  to  the  night  attendants,  I  rarely  ever  see  night  attendants.  Sometime! 
not  know  who  is  night  attendant  of  the  female  department.  My  impress: 
that  she  was  Miss  Mattie  Toler,  of  Fayetteville.  She  h&s  married  since  i 
now  Mrs.  R.  Smith. 

You  read  all  the  report  yourself  ?  A.  I  did. 

When  did  you  say  that  this  strapping  of  Mrs.  Lowther  took  place  ? 
refreshed  my  memory  where  I  keep  the  number  of  graves  and  date  of  de< 
buried  her.  She  died  March  14th,  1S85. 


43 


o  you  remember  the  fact  that  she  got  up  and  washed  her  face  and  attended 
ier  business  and  duties  and  died  about  two  hours  afterwards  ?  A.  I  do  not 
ember  the  report  stating  that,  but  understood  that  she  died  soon  after  she  got 
not  immediately. 

id  you  understand  that  she  died  of  heart  disease  ?  A.  No,  sir.  There  was  no 
;e  assigned  in  the  report. 

'ho,  at  the  time,  kept  the  book  and  cause  of  death  of  patients  ?  A.  I  do  not 
w  who  keeps  it  now,  1  do  not  know. 

Vlrs.  Watson  testifies  : 

d  you  know  Mrs.  Lowther?  A.  Yes,  sir;  I  had  charge  of  her  a  short  time. 
,s  here  when  she  died. 

d  you  see  her  when  she  was  restrained?  A.  I  passed  through  the  ward  at 
Jme. 

hat  was  the  character  of  her  insanity  an£  what  was  her  conduct  ?  A.  She 
very  unpleasant ;  she  woald  throw  things  about,  and  spit  in  one’s  face  ;  she 
!d  give  the  patients  a  shove  to  get  them  out  of  the  way,  and  would  hurt  them 
Ines.  She  was  a  very  excitable  patient  at  times  ;  she  would  use  bad  language, 
it  was  necessary  to  restrain  her  at  times,  to  restrain  her  for  the  purpose  of 
;;ing  her  and  to  control  her.  She  would  throw  anything  in  your  face  she 
1  get  hold  of,  and  she  would  do  anything  she  could  to  hurt  the  feelings  of 
»ne. 

)r.  Grissom  testifies ; 

Irs.  Lowther  came  here  in  June,  1881,  and  died  in  March,  1885.  She  had 
lie  mania  and  delusions.  She  would  not  allow  herself  to  be  controlled.  In 
thing  she  had  to  be  managed  by  force  and  would  tight  the  attendants.  I 
lined  her  to  the  bedstead  with  the  view  of  trying  to  impress  her  with  the  impro- 
•  of  her  conduct.  She  was  restrained  one  night  till  the  next  morning  and  was 
ed  frequently.  The  next  morning  she  took  her  meals  in  her  room,  seemed 
i  as  well  as  usual  and  died  in  about  two  hours.  She  was  restrained  only  that 
tight.  I  do  not  think  the  restraint  had  anything  to  do  with  her  death.  ” 

may  not  be  improper  for  me  to  say  that  Mrs.  Lowther  was 
wife  of  a  most  excellent  physician  of  one  of  the  eastern 
ties  of  the  State;  that  she  herself  was  of  excel  lent,  family, 
i  her  childhood  had  been  accustomed  to  the  refinement  and 
lire  of  the  best  society,  and,  until  she  became  insane  and  was 
ght  to  this  Asylum  for  treatment,  had  been  surrounded  by 
he  comforts  and  luxuries  that  wealth  affords.  When  the 
il  of  her  who  was  dearer  to  him  than  all  the  world  besides 
s ;d  into  that  dark  and  awful  shadow  of  insanity  there  was 
d  t less  some  comfort  to  her  husband’s  bleeding  heart  in  the 


44 


thought  that  in  this  institution  of  noble  charity,  in  the  hanc 
this  Superintendent  of  so  much  learning  and  experience, 
would  be  tenderly  cared  for  and,  if  possible,  gently  and  lovii 
led  out  of  that  terrible  shadow  into  the  bright  and  blessed  1 
of  health  and  reason. 

Remember  that  all  these  witnesses — Mrs.  Jones,  Mr.  Tho 
sou  and  Mrs.  Watson — swear  that  she  was  strapped  tico  a 
Dr.  Grissom  testifies  that  “she  was  restrained  one  night  ' 
the  view  of  trying  to  impress  her  with  the  impropriety  of  her 
duet.”  Mr.  Thompson  says  the  daily  reports  showed  that 
was  strapped  to  the  bedstead  either  for  spitting  at  the  Sup* 
tendent  or  for  cursing  hiyi.  Mrs.  Jones  says  she  would 
bathe  or  go  to  the  table  and  eat  and  she  was  strapped  to  t 
her  obedience.  So  that  whether  you  believe  the  evidence  o> 
the  witnesses  or  only  that  of  either  one  of  them  you  must 
elude  that  this  insane  lady  was  strapped  as  a  punishmen 
something  she  had  done,  or  had  refused  to  do,  and  concer 
which  she  had  no  power  to  control  herself. 

I  imagine  the  truth  to  be  that  Mrs.  Lowther,  a  poor,  old 
sane  woman — fifty  odd  years  old — refused  to  go  to  the  bath-i 
when  ordered,  and  insisted  on  bathing  in  her  own  private  rr 
To  make  her  obey  orders — “to  teach  her  obedience  ” — as 
Watson,  a  witness  for  the  defence,  says,  she  was  delivered  ov 
the  cruel  embraces  of  that  terrible  machine  of  torture,  the 
strap.  One  of  Dr.  Grissom’s  witnesses  dwelt  upon  the  fin* 
cipline  with  which  this  institution  was  managed.  He  said  th 
had  been  at  various  institutions  of  this  kind  and  that  at  no 
them  did  he  observe  such  strict  and  excellent  discipline  as  he  f 
here.  «Poor  old  Mrs.  Lowther,  far  away  from  the  protect# 
home  and  kinsmen,  turned  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
great  philanthropist,  simply  because  she  was  a  little  stub 
was  tortured — yes,  tortured  to  death  !  Why  were  not  kin 
tendauts  placed  around  her?  Why  did  they  not  humoi 
notions  of  this  poor,  old,  insane  lady?  Why  did  they  not 
her  with  kindness  and  gentleness?  Why  did  they  not  take 
on  her  and  let  her  bathe  in  the  privacy  of  her  own  room, 


45 


ig  so  it  would  give  to  her  one  minute’s  comfort,  or  ameliorate 
iota  her  unhappy  and  wretched  condition  ?  Ah  !  That 
Id  not  be  done  !  That  would  interfere  with  the  discipline  of 
institution  !  I,  the  Czar,  must  be  obeyed  !  Discipline 
;t  be  maintained  at  whatever  cost  or  misery, 
fader  the  laws  of  this  Asylum  whenever  a  patient  dies  there 
t  be  kept  not  only  a  record  of  the  death  but  of  its  cause. 

.  Lowther  died  on  the  14th  of  March,  1885. 
l  the  report  of  the  Superintendent  for  the  year  1885,  which 
)w  hold  in  my  hand,  I  find  that  opposite  the  name  of  every 
;nt  who  has  died  at  this  Asylum  during  the  period  covered 
his  report  the  cause  of  death  imprinted,  except  that  of  the 
who  died  on  the  14th  March,'  1885.  The  counsel  on  the 
p  side  would  have  you  believe  that  she  died  of  heart  disease, 
lis  be  true,  why  is  it  not  so  written  in  the  records?  If  it  be 
that  when  she  died  no  cause  of  death  was  known,  it  was 
o  the  good  name  of  this  institution,  it  was  due  to  the  Super- 
1  dent  himself,  to  have  had  an  autopsy  so  as  to  ascertain  with 
inty  the  cause  of  death  !  Thank  the  Lord  for  the  hour 
!  died !  Thank  the  Lord  for  snatching  this  unfor- 
e,  wretched  old  lady  from  the  merciless  embraces  of  the 
itrap,  and  taking  her  to  that  happy  land  where  insan- 
nsane  asylums  and  tender-hearted,  philanthropic  superin- 
nts  are  unknown. 

ntlemen,  I  do  not  know  how  these  things  affect  you;  but 
ifess  that  when  I  reflect  upon  such  scenes  my  blood  rushes 
i  the  arteries  of  my  body  and  back  again  to  my  heart  until 
ns  that  I  cart  endure  it  no  longer. 

'ey  have  called  upon  a  large  number  of  witnesses  to  ‘testify 
f  the  character  of  Dr.  Grissom.  They  have  called  upon 
Lers  of  the  gospel  to  show  how  he  behaves  on  Sundays, 
e  have  called  upon  gentlemen  who  were  directors  of  this 


ition  twenty  years  ago  to  prove  that,  so  far  as  they  knew, 
?  the  term  of  their  offices,  there  was  no  cruelty  here, 
ill  upon  Mrs.  Lowther’s  spirit !  When  one  “  shuffles  off 
ortaj  coil  ”  and  the  spirit  takes  its  departure,  it  may  fly  to 


46 


worlds  above  and  be  forgetful  and  unconscious  of  its  fore 
home,  or  it  may,  unseen  by  us,  observe  and  take  an  interest 
the  affairs  of  earth,  but  I  feel  that  the  spirit  of  Mrs.  Lowt 
is  before  you.  I  feel  that  she  now  stands  by  me  and  insp; 
me  with  words  of  denunciation  of  the  man  under  whose  ore 
she  was  tortured  to  death. 

The  testimony  of  Mr.  Guthrie  was  exceedingly  interesting 
me.  I  don’t  know  when  anything  has  impressed  me  more, 
he  told  us  how,  when  he  was  insane,  his  imagination  ran  w 
how  even  when  delusions  and  hallucinations  in  countless  ni 
bers  took  possession  of  his  brain  lie  was  keenly  sensitiv 
what  was  said  and  done  in  his  presence,  how  at  times  the  sj 
of  stubbornness  overcame  him,  how  all  these  things  were  in 
bly  impressed  upon  his  memory,  and  how,  even  now,  he  rem 
bered  with  great  vividness  everything  that  occurred  durin 
period  of  his  insanity,  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  poor 
Mrs.  Lowther. 

Different  persons  have  different  ideas  as  to  what  is  hell,  s 
believing  that  it  is  one  thing,  some  another,  the  old-fashii 
notion  being,  I  believe,  that  it  was  a  place  of  fire  and  brimsl 
presided  over  by  the  Devil,  who  passed  around  with  his  longi 
and  his  forked  stick,  stirring  up  the  spirits  and  the  fire,  the 
modern  idea  being  that  it  is  a  place  where  wicked  and  ur 
doned  souls  suffer  from  remorse,  their  agonies  being  so  gri 
to  be  compared  to  the  pains  of  fire  and  brimstone.  I  co 
that  up  to  the  time  of  this  trial  my  ideas  of  this  place  of  tor 
were  uncertain,  vague  and  misty,  and  I  could  not  imagine 
it  was.  But  now,  with  pencil  and  paper,  I  can,  in  a  few 
utes,  picture  to  you  this  place  of  torment.  Here  it  is ! 

Mrs.  Lowther,  tied  hand  and  foot,  limbs  and  body,  strap  pi 
on  her  back !  See  the  agonized  expression  of  her  counten 
Here  she  has  been  for  two  long  days  and  nights  unable  to 
Poor  old  Mrs.  Lowther !  Wretched  and  unfortunate ! 


mind  a  wreck  !  As  the  bright  sun  for  a  moment  shows  j 
through  the  dark  and  lowering  clouds,  so,  perhaps,  comes 
mind  the  recollection  of  that  sweet  old  home  where  a  JongJ 


47 


she  had  spent  such  happy  days  and  where  she  was  accus¬ 
ed  to  bathe  in  her  own  private  room,  and  being  so  impressed 
i  this  dim  recollection  of  the  past  refused  to  go  to  the  public 
-room.  Instead  of  having  her  fancy  humored,  she  is  rudely 
lied,  cruelly  treated,  tortured  to  death.  If  this  be  not  hell, 
that  place  is  more  terrible  than  the  mind  of  man  can  imag- 
It  is  almost  enough  to  make  us  doubt  the  existence  of  a 
t  and  merciful  God  that  such  things  are  permitted, 
s  I  have  said  before,  I  do  not  beg  you  to  convict  Dr.  Gris- 
of  this  charge.  Acquit  him  if  you  can !  If  Mrs.  Low¬ 
’s  spirit  could  speak  to  you  she  would  also  say,  “Acquit  him 
on  can  !”  But,  gentlemen,  when  you  have  done  so,  as  you 
out,  inscribe  in  letters  of  blood  over  the  great  doors  of  this 
lum,  “Who  enters  here  leaves  hope  behind.” 

7  Dr.  Grissom  shall  go  unpunished  for  his  treatment  of  Mrs. 
'ther,  if  by  acquitting  him  of  this  charge,  you  indorse  and 
ove  such  treatment,  and  then  I  should  be  so  unfortunate  as 
ecome  insane,  I  pray  that  some  kind  friend  may  take  pity 
le  and  put  an  end  to  my  existence.  Rather  let  me  go  with- 
warning  and  without  preparation,  to  answer  for  the  deeds 
in  the  body,  trusting  to  the  mercy  of  a  great  and  good  God, 
to  bear  for  even  a  few  short  days  the  punishments  and  the 
res  of  this  Asylum, 
le  next  case  is  that  of 

J.  D.  L.  SMITH. 

lian  C.  Bevers  testifies: 

you  ever  have  employment  at  this  institution  ?  A.  I  did. 

you  know  a  patient  by  the  name  of  J.  D.  L.  Smith?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

>ou  remember  anything  as  to  his  treatment?  A.  I  remember  him  being 
13d  to  the  bedstead. 

n  ?  A.  During  the  year  1886  ;  I  do  not  remember  the  month, 
t  was  the  cause  of  his  being  strapped  ?  A.  For  trying  to  get  out  or  for 
!  to  break  a  guard  oil  window ;  the  attendant  reported  him  to  me  and  I 
hd  him  to  the  Superintendent,  and  he  ordered  me  to  strap  him. 

I  there  any  bedding  on  the  wall  of  that  room  ?  A.  No,  sir ;  only  mattress 
^  or  Smith  ;  no  bedding  on  wall  or  on  floor, 
ag  any  one  kept  in  that  room  but  Smith  ?  A.  No,  sir. 


48 


Superintendent  ordered  you  to  strap  him  ?  Yes,  sir. 

And  you  did  so  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Who  was  present  ?  A.  Three  attendants  and  myself. 

Did  Dr.  Grissom  come  iu  while  it  was  being  done?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

What  did  he  do  ?  A.  He  asked  Smith  what  was  that  he  said  when  he  : 
came  in. 

What  answer  ?  A.  I  do  not  think  he  gave  any  answer  at  all. 

What  was  it  he  said  ?  A.  He  made  a  remark  about  him  and  the  matron  jui 
he  was  entering  the  door. 

What  did  Dr.  Grissom  do  ?  A.  He  walked  up  in  front  of  Smith  and  said,  “ 
away  ;  I  have  a  great  mind  to  kick  his  guts  out,”  and  raised  his  foot,  but  did 
strike  him  ;  he  said  he  had  a  mind  to  kick  him,  that  he  ought  to  have  been  in 
penitentiary,  ought  never  to  have  been  brought  here  ;  that  if  he  had  justice  c 
he  would  have  been  hung. 

How  long  did  he  remain  ?  A.  He  remained  some  four  or  six  hours ;  he 
strapped  in  the  afternoon  and  released  at  nine. 

Then  what  became  of  Smith  ?  A.  He  was  put  back  in  the  strong  room  w 
he  came  from. 

Do  you  remember  noticing  another  time  Smith  was  strapped  ?  A.  Yes,  sir 

What  was  the  cause  of  that  ?  State  all  the  things  you  know  about  it.  A. 
sent  the  Superintendent  an  insulting  note  by  me. 

What  did  the  Doctor  do  or  say  when  he  looked  at  it '?  A.  He  looked  at  it, 
it  in  the  waste  basket  and  said  strap  him. 

Did  you  strap  him  ?  A.  I  did. 

How  long  did  he  remain  that  way  ?  I  do  not  remember ;  a  few  hours. 


CROSS-EXAMINED. 


What  sort  of  a  patient  was  Smith  ?  A.  A  very  troublesome  patient ;  his  i| 
ence  was  bad  on  the  patients. 

Do  you  know  he  was  sent  here  for  trying  to  burn  a  bridge  ?  A.  I  heard  scl 

Has  there  been  a  patient  here  that  has  been  more  troublesome  and  whose  e  | 
pie  was  worse  than  Smith’s  ?  A.  No,  sir. 

Has  he  ever  been  subjected  to  restraint  of  any  sort  that  was  not  neces| 
wholesome  restraint  (objection) ;  question  withdrawn. 

The  strong  room  you  speak  of  was  fitted  for  Mr.  Smith  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

The  mattress  that  was  put  in  the  room  extended  up  the  sides  ?  A.  TheJ 
tress  was  padded  and  extended  about  twelve  feet  up  the  sides. 

Would  it  not  have  been  dangerous  for  an  attendant  to  have  stayed  in  that  j 
with  him  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

This  mattress  was  on  the  floor  ;  a  comfortable  mattress  and  bed  clothing| 
Yes,  sir. 

He  was  quite  a  mechanic  for  making  keys?  A.  Yes,  _sir. 

How  many  times  has  he  escaped  from  the  ^institution  ?  A.  Once  duriij 
stay. 

Did  you  hear  of  another  escape  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

What  was  it  when  Dr.  Grissom  came  in  ;  was  it  as  vulgar  and  filthy  as  coij 
used  ?  A.  He  was  abusive,  but  not  so  vulgar  as  I  have  heard  him. 

Was  not  the  note  he  sent  as  vulgar  and  abusive  as  you  ever  saw  ?  A.  I  ttj 
was. 


49 


Do  you  know  when  Dr.  Grissom  came  up  here  and  raised  his  foot  at  him  that 
!  thought  that  Smith’s  language  was  the  teaching  of  Dr.  Rogers  and  Mr.  Thomp- 
n  ?  A.  I  do  not,  sir ;  I  have  no  right  to  think  what  he  thinks.  I  cannot  read  a 
in’s  thoughts. 

Did  Dr.  Grissom  tell  him  that  he  thought  that  language  was  the  teaching  of 
r.  Rogers  and  Mr.  Thompson  ?  A.  No,  sir  ;  he  did  not. 

Smith,  while  here  as  an  insane  person,  has  plenty  of  sense  to  know  right  from 
*ong  ?  A.  I  think  he  has. 

RE-DIRECT. 


ire  you  an  expert  ?  A.  No,  sir.  I  think  he  has  the  sense,  but  can’t  control  it. 

Mr.  D.  K.  Farrell  testifies: 

)o  you  know  a  patient  named  J.  D.  L.  Smith  ?  A.  I  do. 

)o  you  know  of  any  unusual  treatment  of  him  by  the  Superintendent  ?  A.  He 
il  him  strapped  to  the  bedstead  twice ;  I  think  the  first  time  about  the  latter 
it  of  September,  1886. 

Vhat  were  the  circumstances  connected  with  it  ?  A.  Well,  Smith  was  in  the 
mg  room  built  for  bad  patients ;  he  was  supposed  to  try  to  break  out  of  the 

Iitution  ;  he  was  locked  in  that  room  alone  ;  by  some  means  he  got  hold  of  a 
;e  of  iron  and  made  a  key  and  unlocked  the  door  and  it  was  reported  to  the 
erintendent  by  the  chief  attendant,  I  think  about  3  o’clock  in  the  evening, 
tbe  four.  Pretty  soon  I  received  word  to  help  strap  Smith  to  the  bed,  and 
did  strap  him.  I  think  the  Superintendent  came  in  before  we  were  quite  fin- 
id.  We  kept  him  there  from  that  evening  about  5  o’clock  until  next  morning, 
about  8  o’clock.  I  gave  him  his  meals,  supper  and  breakfast.  I  think  he  got 
pnce  to  attend  to  the  calls  of  nature  about  9  o’clock  that  night ;  he  was  then 
pped  again  after  being  released  a  short  while.’ 

'hat  effect  did  the  strapping  have  on  Smith  ?  A.  I  think  it  made  him  meaner  ; 
Jethingdid;  I  cannot  say  it  was  the  strapping,  but  something  did;  he  got 
liner. 

,j  hy  was  he  strapped  ?  A.  Because  he  tried  to  break  out  of  the  strong  room. 

1  treatment  made  him  meaner,  I  think. 

ru  spoke  of  another  time  when  Smith  was  strapped.  A.  I  do  not  remember  ; 
3  time  in  1887. 

ill  you  tell  the  circumstances  about  the  strapping?  A.  It  was  because  he 
vulgar  and  insulting  note  to  the  Superintendent  by  Mr.  Bevers,  who  was 
ig  as  chief  attendant  at  the  time.  I  cannot  remember  how  long  he  was 
>ped  by  the  Superintendent  to  the  bed  ;  he  was  ordered  to  be  strapped  by  the 
rintendeut ;  he  was  strapped  pretty  tightly.  I  cannot  remember  what  time 
s ;  I  think  he  was  released  some  time  about  9  o’clock  that  night, 
is  there  an  attendant  in  the  strong  room  with  him  ?  A.  No,  sir. 

*w  long  did  he  stay  in  the  strong  room  ?  A.  He  stayed  there  all  the  time 
jis  they  took  him  out  to  strap  him  to  the  bedstead  ;  there  was  no  bedstead  in 
Jjtrong  room  ;  there  was  a  mattress;  I  left  him  there  when  I  resigned. 

you  know  what  effect  this  treatment  of  Smith  had  upon  his  mind  ?  A. 
^  [Ijv  cannot  say  about  that,  but  he  got  worse  daily,  but  I  do  not  know  what 
d  it.  * 

4 


aifl 


50 


CROSS-EX  A  MIXED. 

I  ask  you  if  you  do  Dot  know  that  J.  D.  L.  Smith  in  the  Asylum  is  criminall 
insane?  A.  No,  sir. 

Do  you  know  that  he  was  sent  here  for  burning  a  bridge  over  Cape  Fear  River 
A.  No,  sir. 

Do  you  know  that  he  is  a  mechanic  and  can  make  most  anything  ?  A.  Yes,  sii 

You  say  he  was  in  the  strong  room  :  is  that  not  a  padded  room  all  over  the  floo 
and  extending  up  the  sides  of  the  walls?  A.  No,  sir  ;  not  when  I  was  there. 

Do  you  not  know  that  J.  D.  L.  Smith  is  a  vigorous  young  man  ?  A.  He  looke 
so. 

Do  you  know  that  he  broke  out  and  had  to  be  arrested  in  Fayetteville  an 
brought  back?  A.  No,  sir;  he  escaped  from  the  institution  and  had  to  b 
brought  back. 

Do  you  not  know  that  on  another  occasion  he  was  arrested  by  a  party  of  uegroe 
about  nine  miles  and  a  half  from  here  and  brought  back  ?  A.  I  know  he  escape 
and  was  brought  back. 

Don’t  you  know  that  nothing  can  be  kept  in  the  strong  room  ?  A.  Yes,  sii 
nothing  of  w'hich  weapons  can  be  made. 

Mr.  G.  A.  Poole  testifies  : 

Do  you  remember  a  patient  named  J.  D.  L.  Smith  ?  do  you  remember  any  unu 
ual  treatment  of  him  ?  A.  Nothing  but  being  strapped  to  the  bed. 

What  was  he  strapped  for,  and  how  long  did  he  remain  ?  A.  He  was  strappe 
for  unlocking  a  window  ;  he  was  released  about  10  o’clock ;  he  was  strapped  as 
punishment ;  he  was  reported  and  strapped. 

Was  he  strapped  loosely  or  tightly?  A.  Rather  tightly;  he  complained  ar 
the  straps  were  loosened  after  a  while.  (Witness  shows  how  the  strap  works).  T1 
patient  wras  strapped  to  the  bed  on  his  back ;  could  move  his  head  a  little,  bi 
could  not  raise  his  shoulders. 

What  arrangements  were  made  by  which  he  could  be  released  for  purposes  c 
nature  ?  A.  They  generally  made  arrangements  for  that ;  unless  arraugemen 
were  made  he  would  relieve  himself  on  the  bed. 

He  was  strapped  for  what  purpose?  A.  For  opening  one  of  the  guards  of  tl 
window  in  his  cell,  and  while  the  carpenters  were  working  on  the  room  he  w. 
getting  out  the  window,  and  I  reported  it  to  Dr.  Grissom  and  he  ordered  him 
be  strapped  ;  he  remained  from  3  or  4  o’clock  until  the  next  morning  about  10. 

Do  you  remember  that  he  was  strapped  another  time  ?  A.  On  the  evening 
the  day  he  was  released  he  was  again  strapped  that  evening  and  remained  fro 
5  o’clock  in  the  evening  until  8.30  when  we  put  him  in  the  strong  room  to  slee 

What  was  in  the  strong  room  ?  A.  Nothing  but  bedding  and  spittoons. 

What  did  the  bedding  consist  of  ?  A.  Mattresses,  sheets  and  pillows. 

What  effect  did  that  have  upoD  the  patient  Smith?  A.  I  do  not  know  that 
noticed  any  change  in  him. 


CROSS-EXAMINED. 

He  was  not  violent,  you  say  ?  A.  I  did  not  consider  him  so. 

You  do  not  call  a  mau  violent  w'ho  often  strikes  other  patients  and  attendant 
How  long  were  you  here  ?  A.  Only  about  three  mouths. 


51 


« 


I 


You  were  hardly  here  long  enough  to  enable  you  to  conduct  an  institution  and 
tell  whether  punishment  and  restraint  were  necessary,  were  you?  No,  sir;  I 
think  not. 

I  think  I  ask  your  opinion  as  to  whether  the  restraint  was  beneficial  to  Smith  ; 
were  you  here  long  enough  to  tell  whether  the  restraint  was  so  or  not  ?  A.  I 
saw  no  change  and  left  shortly  after  that. 

J.  A.  Tucker  testifies  : 

Do  you  know  J.  D.  L.  Smith?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Did  you  ever  see  him  strapped  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

What  for?  A.  I  have  seen  him  strapped  several  times  for  different  things.  I 
know  he  was  strapped  once  for  trying  to  bite  a  piece  out  of  his  arm.  He  was 
standing  in  his  room  quiet  just  before  he  was  strapped. 

Another  time,  what,  was  he  strapped  for?  A.  I  do  not  remember.  It  was 
always  as  a  punishment  for  something  he  had  done,  and  sometimes  to  prevent 
him  from  doing  something. 

What  something  was  he  prevented  from  doing  ?  A.  I  don’t  remember.  He 
has  threatened  to  do  things  and  been  strapped  to  prevent  him  from  doing  them. 

Do  you  know  of  patients  being  put  in  the  strong  room?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Who  were  they?  A.  I  have  known  Smith,  Wortham  and  numbers  of  others  I 
cannot  call  names  of. 

What  were  they  put  in  seclusion  for  ?  A .  Sometimes  for  one  thing,  sometimes 
as  a  punishment  for  what  they  had  already  done,  and  sometimes  they  were  too 
much  excited  to  be  with  other  patients. 

CROSS-EXAMINED. 

Have  not  Lan.  Smith  and  Zeb.  Williams  sense  enough  to  be  subjects  of  disci¬ 
pline?  did  they  have  sense  enough  to  know  what  they  were  strapped  for?  A.  I 
think  so. 

W.  J.  Crutchfield  testifies  : 

Did  you  ever  see  J.  D.  L.  Smith  strapped  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

How  many  times?  A.  I  do  not  remember. 

What  was  it  for?  A.  Sometimes  for  one  thing,  and  sometimes  for  another. 
At  one  time  it  was  said  he  had  matches  and  would  not  give  them  up;  they  said 
it  was  for  this.  I  do  not  know  what  it  was  for. 

K 

J.  A.  Norwood  testifies  : 

What  is  your  business  ?  A.  Attendant  of  this  Asylum. 

Do  you  know  a  patient  named  J.  D.  L.  Smith  ?  A.  I  do. 

Do  you  know  anything  unusual  of  his  treatment  ?  A.  Yes,  sir;  he  was  strap¬ 
ped  to  the  bed  once  and  I  helped. 

When  was  that  ?  A.  March  of  this  year. 

Under  whose  orders  ?  A.  Dr.  Grissom’s. 

For  what  was  he  strapped  to  the  bed  ?  A.  For  taking  screws  out  of  the  window 
h  his  room. 


52 


* 


State  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  it.  A.  Beyers  and  I  were  putting 
cuffs  on  ;  he  asked  how  Dr.  Grissom  looked  when  he  reported  it  to  him,  and 
Bevers  said  he  did  did  not  know  how  he  looked,  and  patient  said  he  looked  like 
he  had  just  *  *  *  *  and  Dr.  Grissom  walked  in  and  said,  “  What  is 

that  you  said  ?  I  will  kick  his  guts  out  of  him.  ”  He  said  he  was  a  great  mind 
to  kick  him  under  the  chin  and  break  his  neck,  that  he  was  the  meanest  man 
that  ever  came  here,  and  that  he  never  ought  to  have  been  here ;  he  ought  to 
have  been  in  the  penitentiary,  and  if  justice  had  been  done  him  he  would  have 
been  hanged. 

Do  you  know  why  the  Superintendent  ordered  him  to  be  strapped  ?  A.  Because 
he  took  the  screws  out  of  the  window  and  unlocked  the  window  guard. 

After  Smith  bad  taken  the  screws  out  could  he  have  gotten  out  ?  A.  I  do  not 
think  he  could  have  gotten  out  until  judgment  without  something  more  than  he 
had  in  there  ;  there  were  two  new,  heavy  sets  of  bars. 

What  effect  did  this  strapping  have  on  Smith  ?  A.  No  good  effect,  that  I  know 
of.  - 

How  long  was  Smith  kept  in  strap?  A.  He  was  strapped  that  evening  and 
removed  that  night  to  another  room. 

Where  is  Smith  now  ?  A.  He  is  in  the  fourth  ward,  first  floor. 

Is  he  confined  in  that  close  room  ?  A.  He  sleeps  in  there  at  night,  but  is  not 
locked  in  there  at  day. 

Is  he  allowed  any  exercise  ?  A.  He  walks  out  doors  with  other  patients.  He  has 
been  strapped  several  other  times  since  I  have  been  here. 

Do  you  know  the  cause  for  which  he  was  strapped  ?  A.  I  think  the  last  time 
he  was  strapped  was  for  biting  a  piece  out  of  his  own  arm. 

*•  What  were  the  other  causes — do  you  remember  ?  A.  I  do  not  recollect  exactly 
now. 

Could  he  have  been  prevented  from  biting  a  piece  out  of  his  arm  by  giving  him 
one  or  two  attendants?  A.  Yes,  sir;  very  easily,  I  thiuk.  I  think  one  could 
have  attended  to  him  very  easily. 

Could  he  be  prevented  from  interfering  with  the  screws  of  the  window,  etc.,  by 
the  personal  attention  of  an  attendant?  A.  I  think  he  could. 

Is  he  a  violent  man  ?  A.  Well,  he  is  ;  I  do  not  thiuk  so  very  violent.  He  talks 
big. 

How  does  he  act  ?  A.  He  fights  sometimes.  He  has  struck  one  or  two  patieuts 
since  I  have  been  here.  He  would  just  strike  them  and  go  on. 

Did  be  have  any  attendant  with  him  ?  A.  No,  sir. 

Was  he  strapped  for  striking  ?  A.  No,  sir. 

What  was  done  with  him  ?  A.  He  was  locked  up  alone  in  a  room. 

Does  he  ever  have  attendants?  A.  He  has  never  had  one  since  I  have  been 
here  that  I  know  of. 

I  suppose  this  strapping  etc.,  has  changed  Smith’s  disposition  ?  A.  I  do  not  see 
any  change  in  him. 

How  many  times  did  you  say  you  had  seeu  him  strapped?  A.  He  has  been 
strapped  several  times  since  I  have  been  here.  I  do  not  remember  how  many.  I 
have  been  here  a  little  over  two  years. 

To  what  extent  is  Smith  confined  in  that  room  ?  A.  He  was  locked  in  there 
when  I  came  here,  and  he  was  in  there  several  months  afterwards ;  they  told  me 
he  had  been  in  there  some  time. 


53 


How  was  he  fed?  A.  By  the  attendant,  which  was  generally  handed  to  him 
through  the  trap-door;  two  attendants  had  to  go  to  him. 

Did  you  ever  go  into  his  room  alone  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Did  he  offer  you  any  violence  ?  A.  No,  sir. 

CEOSS-EXAMINED. 

Was  not  Lan.  Smith  iu  the  institution  as  a  criminally  insane  person  ?  A.  I  have 
been  told  so. 

Did  he  not  once  break  out  the  bars,  and  get  out,  and  go  to  Fayetteville  ?  A.  I 
have  heard  he  did. 

Did  he  not  again  escape  and  was  re-taken  by  Mr.  Thompson  ?  A.  I  heard  so  ; 
that  took  place  before  I  came  here. 

Has  he  not  made  false  keys  and  unlocked  doors?  A.  I  have  never  seen  him 
unlock  a  door.  I  have  seen  him  have  false  keys. 

Do  you  know  that  recently  he  cut  his  arm  with  a  piece  of  tin  and  threatened 
to  bleed  himself  to  death  ?  A.  I  know  he  cut  his  arm  once. 

Do  you  know  that  another  time  he  had  another  piece  of  tin  on  him  ?  A.  No, 
sir. 

Do  you  know  that  he  is  in  the  habit  of  striking  patients  and  then  denying  it  ? 
A.  He  has  struck  them  once  or  twice,  but  I  always  saw  him. 

Do  you  know  of  his  bruising  the  patients  on  the  fifth  ward  ?  A.  I  have  heard 
that  he  did,  but  I  was  not  in  that  ward. 

Do  you  know  that  once  he  had  a  special  attendant?  A.  Not  since  I  have  been 
here. 

Do  you  know  that  his  special  attendant  was  so  annoyed  and  worried  that  hi" 
threatened  to  leave  the  institution  ?  A.  If  that  took  place  it  was  before  I  came. 

Did  not  Dr.  Grissom  give  the  order  for  him  to  be  bound  because  he  was  break¬ 
ing,  or  attemping  to  break  out ;  and  before  he  went  in  the  room,  when  you  say 
he  threatened  to  kick  him  ?  A.  They  told  me  he  gave  orders  for  taking  out 
screws  and  breaking  locks. 

Were  not  those  orders  being  carried  out  at  the  time  Dr.  Grissom  came  in  ?  A. 
Yes,  sir. 

Do  you  know  that  Lan.  Smith  is  in  a  much  better  condition  than  he  was  at  the 
time  he  came  to  the  institution  ?  A.  I  do  not  see  any  difference  in  him. 

Did  you  not  say  in  your  direct  examination  that  when  you  came  to  the  institu¬ 
tion  two  attendants  were  required  to  be  with  him,  and  that  now  he  can  exercise 
with  other  patients  ?  A.  When  I  first  came  here  it  was  the  rule  that  not  less 
than  two  attendants  were  to  go  in  his  room  at  once,  in  the  strong  room.  Yes, 
sir;  he  goes  out  with  the  other  patients  with  the  ordinary  attendants. 

These  witnesses,  against  whose  characters  there  has  not  been 
a  whisper,  are  entirely  disinterested  and  are  in  every  way  worthy 
of  full  credit.  Then  comes  Dr.  Grissom — deeply,  intensely  in¬ 
terested — with  all  that  he  holds  most  dear  dependent  upon  the 
ssue.  He  testifies  as  follows  : 


54 


“  J.  D.  L.  Smith  was  admitted  here  from  Cumberland,  Jan.  1st,  1889,  as  crimi¬ 
nally  insane,  having  been  tried  for  an  attempt  to  burn  a  bridge  near  Fayetteville. 
His  insanity  is  peculiar — what  some  alienists  would  call  a  moral  insanity — that  is, 
more  a  disease  of  the  emotions  than  the  intellect.  He  was  the  most  persistently 
mischievous  and  demoralizing  patient  ever  here  since  I  have  been  here.  He  has 
been  frequently  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Thompson  and  others  as  the  worst  man  they 
ever  knew.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  making  false  keys  of  wire  and  unlocking  the 
ward  doors.  He  once  escaped  and  went  to  Fayetteville.  He  was  brought  back, 
but  escaped  again  and  was  captured  in  the  city  of  Raleigh.  His  delight  seemed 
to  be  to  annoy  as  much  as  possible  everybody  connected  with  the  institution.  He 
had  to  be  secluded  except  when  let  out  for  recreation.  He  frequently  sent  me 
vulgar  and  insulting  notes.  On  one  such  occasion  I  directed  him  to  be  restrained 
to  the  bedstead  to  prevent  the  effect  of  his  demoralizing  conduct  in  the  wards  on 
other  patients.  He  was  an  epileptic  patient,  having  these  attacks  at  long  inter¬ 
vals.  He  frequently  had  what  the  attendants  and  myself  thought  were  feigned 
attacks  of  the  epilepsy,  and  on  such  occasions  would  bruise  his  feet  against  the 
wall.  We  had  made  for  him  a  mattress  covering  the  whole  floor  of  his  room  and 
extending  up  the  walls  of  the  room  for  several  feet.  His  restraints  were  always  of 
short  duration,  because  I  restrain  epileptics  for  only  a  short  time  with  orders  to 
w'atch  them  while  under  restraint.  He  had  a  habit  of  concealing  about  his  bed 
pieces  of  wire  and  matches.  Afterwards  I  tried  a  different  treatment  by  allowing 
him  larger  liberties ;  but  not  being  satisfied  with  this,  and  having  been  refused  a 
request  to  go  out  at  large,  he  recommenced  making  false  keys,  etc.  I  directed 
him  to  be  secluded.  It  was  soon  reported  that  he  had  cut  his  arm  and  threatened 
to  bleed  himself  to  death.  I  then  ordered  him  to  be  restrained.  On  passing  his 
room  I  heard  him  talking  in  a  most  vulgar  manner,  connecting  my  name  with  a 
lady’s.  This  I  thought  was  the  result  of  the  wide  insubordination  in  the  wards. 
The  allusion  was  infamously  false.  I  was  powerfully  overcome  with  anger.  I 
raised  my  foot  and  said,  ‘You  are  a  bad  man.  I  have  a  notion  to  kick  you.  If 
you  had  justice  done  you,  you  would  be  in  the  penitentiary.  ’  This  was  but  an 
echo  of  what  I  always  thought  and  think  now.  I  did  not  kick  him  or  touch  him. 
He  was  restrained  for  only  a  short  time.  Since  then  he  has  behaved  better  than 
he  ever  has  since  he  has  been  here,  and  enjoys  larger  liberties  than  ever,  attend¬ 
ing  the  dances,  chapel  services,  etc.  I  have  conversed  with  him  about  these 
restraints  and  think  their  effect  has  been  to  improve  him,  and  think  he  appre¬ 
ciates  it.  ” 

“  He  frequently  sent  me  vulgar  and  insulting  notes.  On  one 
such  occasion  I  directed  him  to  be  restrained  to  the  bedstead  to 
prevent  the  effect  of  his  demoralizing  conduct  in  the  wards  on 
other  patients.  ” 

Tell  me,  gentlemen  of  counsel  for  Dr.  Grissom,  if  you  can, 
by  what  medical  authority,  in  what  asylum,  has  any  insane  man 
been  strapped  to  the  bedstead,  delivered  to  the  close  embraces  ot 
this  cruel  instrument  of  torture  called  the  bed  strap,  because  he 
had  written  an  insulting  note  to  the  superintendent.  If  a  sane 


55 


man  should  write  you  an  insulting  note,  swift  and  just  would 
come  the  punishment,  but  if  his  mind  was  diseased,  if  the  hand 
of  God  was  upon  him,  and  his  words  and  acts  were  beyond,  his 
control,  it  would  be  cruel  and  cowardly  to  inflict  upon  him  any 
punishment.  But,  says  Dr.  Grissom,  he  was  “criminally  insane, 
having  been  tried  for  an  attempt  to  burn  a  bridge  near  Fayette¬ 
ville.”  Over  the  court-house  of  Cumberland  county  stands  a 
statue  of  stern,  blind  Justice.  In  that  court-house,  where  cold 
ustice  is  administered  and  mercy  is  unknown,  this  man  had 
jeen  pronounced  irresponsible  for  his  act  on  account  of  his 
nsanity.  The  State  says  that  she  cannot  punish  a  man  who  is 
nsane.  Instead  of  sending  him  to  the  penitentiary  for  what 
inder  other  circumstances  would  be  a  crime,  she  holds  out  to 
lim  the  loving  hand  of  pity.  She  sends  him  to  this  institution 
if  charity  in  order  that  he  may  have  gentle,  soft-handed  atteud- 
,nts  to  soothe  and  nurse  him,  and  eminent  physicians  to  cure 
urn  of  his  diseased  mind.  Yet  we  find  that  this  man  who,  his 
ounsel  say,  is  so  wise,  so  philanthropic,  and  so  humane  as  to 
ave  won  a  national  reputation,  causes  this  insane  man  to  be 
trapped  and  severely  punished  for  writing  him  an  insulting 
ote. 

“I  directed  him  to  be  restrained  to  the  bedstead  to  prevent 
le  effect  of  his  demoralizing  conduct  in  the  wards  on  other 
atients.  ” 

Why  did  not  the  State,  when  he  burned  that  bridge,  send  him 
)  the  penitentiary  to  prevent  the  effect  of  his  demoralizing  con- 
uct  on  his  fellow-citizens?  The  State  did  not  punish  him  for 
)  serious  an  offence  as  burning  a  bridge ;  but  this  great,  good 
an,  this  distinguished,  big-hearted  physician,  ties  him  flat  on 
is  back  because  he  wrote  to  him  an  insulting  note. 

When  Dr.  Grissom  read  that  great  pamphlet  on  mechanical 
straint  to  the  St.  Louis  convention,  did  he  tell  of  this?  And 
he  had  done  so,  do  you  believe  he  would  have  received  any 
mors  from  that  convention?  No,  indeed;  he  said  nothing 
pout  it. 

Let  me  read  to  you  the  closing  paragraph  of  that  pamphlet. 
ie  writes  like  an  angel  : 


“  For  ourselves,  my  brethren,  we  stand  or  fall  not  upon  tin 
opinion  of  others,  but  upon  the  performance  of  a  sacred  duty 
not  in  blind  adherence  to  any  theory.  Let  us  see,  above  al 
things,  we  use  and  do  not  abuse  any  means  of  treatment  Go< 
has  placed  in  our  hands  for  the  protection  of  his  stricken  crea 
tures,  and  we  may  fear  not  when  they  aud  we  come  to  a  fina 
judgment  before  the  Eye  that  seeth  all  hearts.” 

How  would  it  have  appeared  to  that  convention  if  above  thi 
had  been  written,  “  On  one  such  occasion  I  directed  him  to  b 
restrained  to  the  bedstead”?  Can  you  conceive  of  an  indescriba 
bly  good  God  putting  into  the  hands  of  this  man  that  crue 
bed  strap  to  use  as  a  means  of  punishment  on  a  poor  insaue  mai 
in  his  keeping  for  what  he  could  not  help?  If  any  mind  no 
of  earth  invented  this  machine  of  torture,  it  must  have  beei 
that  of  the  arch  fiend  himself!  Where  is  the  man  with  on 
spark  of  bravery  in  his  heart  who  would  thus  have  taken  advan 
tage  of  even  a  sane  man  in  his  power? 

On  another  occasion  when  Smith  was  being  restrained  to  pre 
vent  his  cutting  himself,  says  Dr.  Grisssom,  “On  passing  hi 
room  I  heard  him  talking  in  a  most  vulgar  manner,  connectin 
my  name  with  a  lady’s;  the  allusion  was  infamously  false, 
was  powerfully  overcome  with  anger.  I  raised  my  foot  aud  saic 
‘  You  are  bad  man  ;  I  have  a  notion  to  kick  you  !  If  you  ha 
justice  done  you  you  would  be  in  the  penitentiary!”’ 

Out  of  his  own  mouth  is  he  convicted  !  Cast  aside  if  yo 
like  the  evidence  of  all  these  other  witnesses  who  have  testified  i 
to  this  matter,  and  upon  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Grissom  himse 
you  must  find  him  guilty  of  this  charge.  There’s  your  philai 
thropist,  without  whom  this  Asylum  could  not  exist,  as  we  ai 
told  by  the  counsel  of  Dr.  Grissom.  An  attendant,  a  man  wfc 
does  not  pretend  to  be  a  great  philanthropist  and  who  has  r 
national  reputation,  and  who,  as  counsel  say,  is  “  fresh  from  tl 
cornfield,”  must  never  lay  violent  hands  on  a  patient.  No 
when  the  Superintendent  sets  this  example  I  dare  to  say,  in  spi 
of  the  testimony  of  his  counsel,  that  he  should  be  turned  ot 
and  sent  away  from  this  Asylum  in  disgrace. 


57 


The  last  case  to  which  I  shall  call  your  attention  is  that  of 


W.  P.  UPCHURCH. 

T.  J.  Harris  testifies : 


Were  you  ever  employed  at  this  Asylum  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

What  was  your  business  here  ?  A.  I  was  an  attendant. 

Do  you  know  a  man  named  Upchurch,  a  patient  in  this  Asylum  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 
Do  you  remember  anything  unusual  in  his  treatment  by  Dr.  Grissom?  A.  I 
vv  Dr.  Grissom  put  his  foot  on  his  head,  in  August,  1883. 

State  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  that  matter  from  beginning  to  end. 
Upchurch  broke  off  a  piece  of  iron  and  was  trying  to  break  the  window  out, 
:d  Dr.  Grissom  was  informed  of  it,  and  he  and  others  came  up  there  and  we  all 
nnt  and  put  mattresses  and  got  him  and  threw  him  down,  and  Dr.  Grissom  came 
1  to  him  and  put  his  foot  on  his  head  and  said,  “  You  damn  son  of  a  bitch,  how 
(es  that  feel?”  Then  I  think  he  was  restrained  for  a  while  by  strapping  to  the 
M. 


CROSS-EXAMINED. 


Ibout  this  Upchurch  matter;  you  say  that  Dr.  Grissom  ordered  him  to  be  eon- 
led,  and  that  Dr.  Grissom  came  in  and  put  his  foot  on  part  of  his  face  and  neck  ? 
l  Yes,  sir. 

Vhat  else  did  he  do  ?  A.  He  did  nothing  else  that  I  know  of  ;  he  stood  up  on 
cb  foot ;  it  was  the  time  he  got  a  piece  of  strip  from  the  window. 

Vere  there  many  marks  or  bruises  upon  his  face  ?  A.  Little  bruises  here,  but 
c  not  amount  to  anything  ;  I  did  not  notice  bruises. 

Mr.  R.  I.  Hogan  testifies  : 

>id  you  know  W.  P.  Upchurch?  did  you  ever  see  anything  unusual  in  the 
tiitment  of  this  patient  by  Dr.  Grissom  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

fill  you  state  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  Upchurch  matter?  A. 
J  Upchurch  was  in  his  room  excited,  and  he  tore  a  strip  of  iron  off  the  win- 
dr  and  was  trying  to  break  through  the  window.  The  Superintendent  and 
nself  and  another  attendent  got  the  iron  away  from  him.  The  door  was  open 
a  we  ran  in  with  a  mattress  and  shoved  him  against  the  side  of  the  house,  and 
tla  all  ran  up  and  threw  him  down  and  took  the  iron  away  from  him  ;  Superin- 
tdentgoton  him  and  stamped  him,  and  put  his  weight  upon  his  throat  and 
si1.,  “  You  damn  son  of  a  bitch,  how  does  that  feel  ?  ”  He  was  then  strapped  to 
a  dstead. 

ow  long  did  he  remain  in  that  position  ?  A.  He  was  released  the  next  day. 

lease  explain  to  the  Board  what  that  process  of  strapping  is.  4.  They 
ai  stretched  out  on  a  bed  full  length,  and  so  fastened  to  the  bedstead  on  his 
b:  j  that  he  cannot  move  his  body,  or  his  arm,  nor  his  feet,  nor  his  legs.  When 
di  fastened  tightly  he  can  raise  the  head  a  little  bit,  but  cannot  raise  the 
stilder  any.  (The  strapping  apparatus  is  brought  into  court  at  Mr.  Whitaker’s 
reiest  and  the  witness  describes  to  the  Board  how  it  is  used). 

3U  say  he  kept  him  strapped  to  the  bed  until  next  day?  A.  Yes,  sir;  but  I 
dc  ot  remember  the  time  of  day  he  was  released. 


58 


Suppose  the  patient  was  in  that  condition,  can  he  obey  a  call  of  nature? 
Yes,  sir ;  on  the  bed  he  could. 

Is  it  the  habit  to  unstrap  them  or  do  they  discharge  themselves  in  their  clothf 
A.  They  generally  discharge  themselves  in  their  clothes. 

CROSS-EXAMINATION. 

That  was  W.  P.  Upchurch  you  speak  of?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Do  you  remember  when  he  was  committed  to  the  institution  ?  A.  No,  sir 
do  not. 

Do  3rou  know  that  he  was  committed  as  criminally  insane  ?  A.  No,  sir.  .  I 

Do  you  know  that  he  shot  a  man  nearly  to  death  and  was  immediately  coma 
ted  to  the  Asylum  ?  A.  I  knew  that  he  was  at  times. 

Did  you  not  know  that  he  w'as  a  powerful  man  when  he  was  excited  ?  A.  I 
sir ;  no  more  than  others. 

Did  you  say  he  was  defying  the  authorities  of  the  institution  at  the  time  ? 
Yes,  sir  ;  he  had  a  bar  of  iron. 

Did  it  not  take  almost  every  man  that  could  get  around  him  to  manage  hi 
A.  No,  sir  ;  four  held  him. 

Did  you  say  that  he  stamped  him  in  his  face  ?  A.  Yes,  sir  ;  he  stamped  him 
his  face  and  mashed  his  foot  down  on  his  throat. 

Tell  the  Board  whether  there  was  a  mark  upon  him.  A.  Yes,  sir  ;  there  w  ■ 
marks  upon  his  chin  and  upon  his  mouth. 

Did  anybody  see  them  besides  yourself?  A.  Yes,  sir;  all  that  was  there. 

Who  were  there  ?  A.  Mr.  Brewer,  the  steward,  myself  and  another  atteud  t 
I  do  not  remember. 

Do  you  not  know  that  when  Dr.  Grissom  went  there,  seeing  this  man  struggl ; , 
with  you,  all  he  did  was  just  to  place  his  foot  there  to  assist  you  ?  A.  No,  : 

I  do  not ;  that  is  not  the  fact. 

Were  those  bruises  or  scratches  about  his  chin  made  by  Dr.  Grissom  ?  A.  T  p 
were,  sir. 

Then  he  strapped  him  down  ?  A.  Yes,  sir;  with  that  strap  or  one  like  it. 

Those  straps  were  here  when  Dr.  Grissom  came  here  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Do  you  know  that  such  restraint  by  straps  is  an  ordinary  way  of  restrain; 
patients  in  ordinary  asylums?  A.  No,  sir;  I  do  not  know  it. 

Jno.  W.  Thompson  testifies  : 

Do  you  know  anything  of  patients  being  strapped  to  the  bed  ?  A.  Yes,  si:  I  i 
have  seen  them  strapped  frequently. 

Do  you  know  for  what  they  were  strapped  ?  A.  Sometimes  as  a  punishmi-; 
sometimes  to  prevent  them  from  breaking  out. 

Punishment  for  what  they  had  done?  A.  Yes,  sir;  what  I  heard  it  was.  >r 
cursing  the  Superintendent  sometimes. 

Several  of  the  witnesses  have  spoken  of  your  being  present  when  Upchib 
was  strapped  in  1883  and  badly  treated  by  the  Superintendent.  Were  you  I'P 
ent  ?  A.  I  was. 

Will  you  state  all  the  circumstances  about  the  matter?  A.  Upchurch  is  | 
locked  in  his  room  excited,  in  what  was  then  the  third  ward ;  he  had  broke » 
piece  of  iron  off  the  window  guard  put  there  to  hold  wire  in  guard.  He  is 


59 


tiling  in  the  room  with  a  piece  of  band  iron  in  his  hand,  cursing,  excited.  We 
•od  see  him  from  the  wire  transom  over  the  door.  There  were  present  Harris, 
-han,  Brewer,  I  think  an  attendant  named  Carpenter,  but  I  am  not  certain 
b  t  him,  the  Superintendent  and  myself.  We  concluded  to  take  a  mattress  and 
p  door  suddenly  and  rush  up  on  him  before  he  could  strike  with  the  iron  bar; 
re  repared  the  mattress ;  rushed  on  him  suddenly;  three  attendants  followed 
ij.-hrew  him  to  the  floor  on  his  back  ;  the  Superintendent  rushed  in  and  stamped 
ii in  his  face  and  said,  “  You  damn  son  of  a  bitch,  how  does  that  feel  ?  ”  They 
oc  him  up  or  let  him  up.  His  mouth  was  bleeding  and  he  was  crying,  tears  run- 
ii  down  his  cheeks.  The  Superintendent  ordered  him  to  be  taken  in  another 
oc  and  strapped  to  the  bedstead,  which  was  done. 

1  you  know  anything  more  about  that;  how  long  he  remained  strapped?  A. 

'  dnot. 

,  W.  Thorapsgn  on  being  recalled  testifies,  on  cross-examina- 

I  rink  that  you  stated  about  the  case  of  Upchurch  that  you  witnessed  the 
nan- yourself  ?  A.  I  did. 

Vs  he  a  violent  man  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

V  s  he  a  strong  man  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Vs  he  given  to  making  much  trouble  with  other  patients  ?  A.  I  do  not  know 
hale  would  make  much  trouble  with  patients,  but  he  would  with  attendants. 
Bwas  in  a  defiant  attitude,  was  he  not,  when  he  was  taken  ?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Aer  some  time  he  was  taken  with  a  mattress  and  held  down,  as  you  say ; 
.  ui  he  was  held  down  Dr.  Grissom  came  in  and  put  his  foot  upon  his  face  ?  A. 
H  e  imped  him  about  the  face  ;  he  was  bleeding  about  the  mouth. 

Yi  were  there  all  the  time  and  saw  all  that  was  going  on  ?  A.  Tes,  sir. 

D  you  see  him  put  his  foot  on  his  neck  and  press  him  there  ?  A.  I  do  not 
ecoict  whether  I  did  or  not,  sir. 

D  you  see  him  put  his  foot  on  him  other  than  stamp  him  ?  A.  I  don’t  recol- 
tctiat. 

D  you  hear  a  witness,  by  the  Dame  of  Hogan,  say  that  he  put  his  foot  on  his 
-elmd  choked  him  that  way?  A.  If  that  was  done  I  do  not  recollect  it.  To 
be  st  of  my  recollection  it  was  a  stamp  in  the  face. 

D  you  hear  witness  Harris  say  that  he  put  his  foot  upon  his  head  ?  Is  that 
>?  lid  the  stamping  upon  the  mouth  produce  anything  like  a  serious  wound  ? 
■  ■  I  was  bloody ;  I  recollect  blood  and  tears. 

Di  you  see  any  abrasions  of  the  skin,  or  did  it  come  from  a  tooth  ?  A.  I 
bin  t  came  from  the  corner  of  his  mouth. 

IV  n  was  that?  A.  Sometime  in  the  slimmer  of  1883. 

W  it  the  same  time  testified  to  by  other  witnesses,  Hogan  and  Harris  ?  A. 
:'es,  r. 

Hi  long  was  he  confined  ?  A.  I  do  not  recollect. 

Hs;  you  any  knowledge  that  when  persons  are  strapped  they  are  allowed  to 
u  trapped  to  obey  the  calls  of  nature  ?  A.  It  is  not  within  my  knowledge. 
Hi;  you  any  kuowledge  about  it  one  way  or  the  other  ?  A.  No,  only  I  have 
ben  em  soil  the  bed. 

W  t  were  the  Superintendent’s  orders  ;  do  you  know  ?  A.  No,  sir. 

1 

I 


60 


By  the  way,  gentlemen,  there  is  a  word  or  two  I  wish  to  i 
in  regard  to  John  W.  Thompson.  While  the  counsel  for  i 
Grissom  have  abused  witness  after  witness  and  denounced  1 1 
as  perjurers  and  utterly  unworthy  of  belief,  not  one  word  1: 
they  said  in  detraction  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Thompson,  ; 
cept  that  one  of  the  counsel  has  commented  upon  the  fact  t 
he  has  brought  no  witness  here  to  testify  as  to  his  good  chat 
ter.  He  needs  none.  John  W.  Thompson  was  born  and  re  i 
in  this  immediate  neighborhood.  His  -whole  life  is  before  ti  t 
I  have  no  doubt  they  have  diligently  searched  the  countrt 
find  some  flaw  in  the  character  and  conduct  of  Mr.  Thump  1 
but  not  one  word  has  been  said  against  him  and  no  man  isr<s 
less  enough  to  do  so,  for  they  well  know  that  no  man  in  X  1 
Carolina  stands  higher  for  truthfulness,  for  purity  of  life  * 
nobility  of  purpose  than  John  W.  Thompson. 

I  will  now  read  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Grissom.  It  is  i 
and  you  may  think  me  tedious;  but  as  I  am  prosecuting  >i 
Grissom  and  asking  you  to  find  him  guilty  of  these  seiu 
charges,  and  to  remove  him  from  office,  I  ask  you  in  justiit 
him  to  patiently  hear  what  he  has  to  say.  He  testifies  as  >1 
lows: 

l:W.  P.  Upchurch  was  admitted  here  as  a  patient  on  January  12,  1878,  ill 
here  now.  He  belonged  to  the  criminal  insane  and  was  decidedly  homi<al 
shot  his  brother  and  attempted  to  kill  other  people.  He  thought  that  his  ba 
neck,  etc.,  were  crushed;  had  hallucinations  of  hearing ;  thought  he  heart « 
pie  planning  to  kill  him.  On  one  occasion  he  kicked  a  guard  out  of  a  wi  01 
and  defied  any  one  to  come  to  him.  He  was  strong  and  dangerous :  would  Ik 
at  night  and  tear  up  his  bed  clothes.  His  attacks  on  people  weresuddeiB 
without  warning,  and  but  for  restraint  would  have  happened  two  or  three  ti  *1 
day.  About  June,  1883,  it  was  reported  to  me  that  he  had  torn  a  bar  fro  hi 
window  and  was  defying  the  attendants.  I  went  to  the  room  aceompani  b; 
attendants  and  possibly  by  the  Steward.  One  attendant,  named  W.  H.  Csfefl 
ter,  proposed  to  go  into  his  room  with. a  stick.  I  told  him  no;  no  such  uu 
should  be  used  ;  and  then,  at  my  suggestion,  he  covered  himself  with  a  mat!« 
and,  understanding  that  he  would  be  followed  by  others,  rushed  upon  him,  sMi 
him  and  disarmed  him.  A  violent  struggle  ensued,  in  which  I  think  neithellf 
Thompson  nor  myself  took  hold  of  him.  The  attendants  handled  him  i he 
clumsily.  Everybody,  including  myself,  seemed  more  or  less  excited.  I  toldien 
to  throw  him  down.  They  did  so.  I  then  put  one  foot  upon  his  neck  »)  > 
view  to  holding  him  down  till  he  should  become  quiet.  In  about  a  minuM 
paroxysm  seemed  to  subside  and  I  took  my  foot  from  his  neck.  He  waspei 
restrained  to  the  bedstead,  I  do  not  remember  how  long,  to  impress  upo tin 


61 


e  ipropriety  of  such  violence.  I  did  not  stamp  him,  because  if  I  had  stamped 
am  the  face,  being  under  excitement,  as  we  all  were,  I  would  probably  have 
oln  the  bones  of  his  face  or  nose.  If  I  had  stamped  him  on  the  neck,  under 
e  rcumstances,  I  would  most  likely  have  broken  his  neck.  I  did  not  stamp 
ai  ay  where;  and  there  was  no  indications  of  violence  except  a  little  blood, 
hi  did  not  come  from  my  foot,  but  from  the  struggle.  I  remember  with 
cucy  the  main  incidents  of  this  affair,  because  I  regretted  the  bad  example 
n;ht  have  on  the  attendants,  as  they  might  not  understand  the  motives  that 
onted  me.  The  affair  was  reported  at  night,  and  the  report  contained  no 
.■cl  of  violence,  and  no  comment  was  made  upon  it. 

“  ilian  C.  Severs  was  once  an  attendant  in  this  institution.  He  was  not  pres- 
t  this  affair.  He  became  an  attendant  here  in  1886,  I  think  ;  certainly  not 
:  f  back  as  1883.  There  was  no  attendant  present  named  Bevers  at  this 
ei  ence.  Upchurch’s  condition  has  wonderfully  improved.  At  one  time  he 
d  be  kept  in  constant  seclusion  on  account  of  his  violence.  He  now  has  the 
i rg;  liberty  in  the  ward  and  goes  out-doors  frequently  for  recreation.  I  don’t 
■nuber  what  I  said  to  Upchurch  at  the  occurrence  referred  to.  I  was  in  the 
iblbf  swearing  a  little  when  under  excitement.  If  the  testimony  in  regard  to 
iguage  is  as  exaggerated  as  the  testimony  in  regard  to  my  actions  it  is 
utitd  to  no  credibility.  ” 

I  member,  gentlemen,  there  were  present  Hogan,  Harris, 
reer  and  Carpenter,  four  strong  men,  holding  Upchurch,  and 
;t Or.  Grissom  says,  “I  put  one  foot  on  his  neck  with  a 
iev  to  holding  him  down  until  he  should  become  quiet.”  “I 
id  iot  stamp  him.”  When  Dr.  Grissom,  in  that  celebrated 
millet  that  we  have  heard  so  much  of,  prgtended  to  cite  the 
isejif  Upchurch,  why  didn’t  he  tell  that  great  convention  of 
uiiint  alienists  that  with  this  insane  man  held  to  the  floor  by 
ontitrong  men  he  placed  his  foot  upon  his  neck  as  he  would 
'0  the  neck  of  a  dog,  and  that  then,  “to  impress  upon  him 
'  ipropriety  of  such  violence,”  he  caused  him  to  be  strapped 
o  te  bedstead?  I  venture  to  say  that  if  he  had  done  so  that 
^  convention  instead  of  honoring  Dr.  Grissom  would  have 
pied  him  as'  unworthy  of  its  membership.  And  then,  in 
ddion  to  the  admission  of  Dr.  Grissom,  Hogan,  Harris  and 
I’hofpson  have  testified  that  he  stamped  him  in  the  face  until  he 
«1  How  can  you  avoid  the  force  of  this  testimony?  Do 
u  elieve  that  Mr.  Thompson  and  these  other  witnesses  have 
wo)  falsely?  What  have  they  to  gain  by  it?  What  promotion 
an ■  jtr.  Thompson  expect  by  the  removal  of  Dr.  Grissom? 

'  h;1  motive  has  Harris  or  Hogan  to  testify  falsely  ? 


62 


Where  can  there  be  found  the  alienist  who  would  not  in 
mistakable  terms  condemn  and  denounce  such  treatment  of  n 
insane? 

Before  closing  I  desire  to  present  to  you  a  sketch  of  r 
Grissom  as  drawn  by  himself.  Here  it  is  !  Look  at  it,  c 
see  if  you  can  see  any  resemblance  to  that  great  and  god-  .< 
man  whom  the  counsel  for  .the  defence  has  so  eloquently  anc* 
often  enlogized  : 

“  I  again  asked  King  if  he  said  he  had  never  seen  any  immorality.  He  sa  *] 
will  tell  you  all  about  it  when  this  thing  blows  over.  ’  I  said  it  might  be  too  « 
This  thing  might  descend  to  other  generations  and  there  might  be  blood  shed  dbo  it 
He  then  became  angry  and  said  I  had  asked  him  that  question  four  t » 
and  for  me  not  to  do  it  again.  I  asked  him  if  he  was  trying  to  bully  me.  ii 
mumbled  out  that  he  was  not  trying  to  bully  me,  but  that  he  didn’t  want  i  u 
ask  him  that  question  again.  1  then  said,  ‘  Mr.  King,  you  are  tiding  to  bull  ie 
and  if  you  try  to  bully  me  1  will  kill  you.'.  He  then  turned  and  left.” 

“I  then  told  Harris  that  I  had  heard  of  his  talking  about  various  fema  a! 
the  institution,  and  asked  him  what  truth  there  was  in  it.  His  answer,  whit  -ai 
about  a  certain  respectable  female  formerly  an  attendant  here,  caused  me  teih 
a  pistol  from  my  drawer  and  say,  ‘  You  infamous  and  depraved  scoundrel  ,ai 
defamer  of  female  virtue,  if  you  do  not  leave  here  I  will  blow  your  brains  out,  nc 
he  retired.  ” 

“  I  may  have  used  under  excitement  a  little  profanity,  but  I  have  never  b  1 1 
common  swearer.  ” 

How  art  thou'falleu,  *  *  oh,  Lucifer,  son  of  hf 

morning  ! 

Dr.  Grissom’s  counsel  have  dwelt  upon  the  high  ma;iii 
honors  which  have  been  bestowed  upon  their  client ;  they  vt 
held  up  before  the  eyes  of  this  court  the  bright  and  daz.ug 
regalia  and  insignia  of  masonic  honors  worn  by  him  ;  they  jvr 
pointed  out  to  you  the  distinction  which  he  has  obtained  inJie 
medical  profession,  and,  lastly,  they  have  commented  upoifhe 
fact  of  his  being  a  member  of  one  of  the  great  Christian  denfli- 
nations  of  the  land. 

Human  experience  teaches  us  that  high  position  and  ex  :ed 
rank  sometimes  end  in  deep  and  merited  disgrace.  Perhapche 
greatest  man  who  ever  lived,  the  brightness  of  whose  intellect  as, 
since  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  been  giving  p 
to  the  world,  who  reached  the  highest  dignity  to  which  an  Jg- 
lish  subject  could  aspire,  was  justly  convicted  of  a  high  cm, 


63 


vis  deprived  by  Parliament  of  the  office  he  had  so  unworthily 
pstituted,  and  sent  with  the  dark  stain  of  a  just  condemna- 
tn  upon  him  to  finish  his  life  in  retirement  and  disgrace. 

The  glittering  and  dazzling  paraphernalia  of  the  masonic  fra- 
tnity  cannot  shield  Dr.  Grissom;  the  distinguished  honors 
vich  his  medical  associates  have  bestowed  upon  him  cannot 
p>tect  him;  and  even  that  great  Christian  denomination  of  the 
hd,  that  branch  of  the  Church  which,  following  the  footsteps 
o  the  Master,  goes  into  the  lanes  and  by-ways  seeking  the  poor 
al  the  distressed,  the  humble  and  the  unlettered,  turning  their 
sips  from  that  broad  way  which  leadeth  to  destruction  and  lead- 
ir  them  into  that  narrow  way  which  leadeth  unto  life — even 
tb  cannot  help  him.  By  the  evidence,  and  by  that  alone,  must 
li  stand  or  fall. 

Slow,  gentlemen,  I  must  apologize  for  the  long  and,  I  fear, 
teious  argument  which  I  have  made,  and  thank  you  for  the 
ecrteous  and  close  attention  which  you  have  given  to  me.  As 
I  ave  passed  through  the  halls  of  this  Asylum  from  day  to  day 
li ing  the  progress  of  this  trial,  and  heard  the  moans  and 
-cams  of  these  unfortunates,  I  have  been  deeply  affected  with 
th'.r  miserable,  wretched  and  helpless  condition.  As  I  have 
Ik rd  falling  from  the  lips  of  many  and  reliable  witnesses  evi- 
kce  of  the  hard-heartedness,  the  tyranny,  the  mismanagement, 
i  b  violent  and  uncontrollable  temper  of  him  who  should  indeed 
bn  kind  and  tender-hearted  father  to  these  people,  as  I  have 
ejcted  that  these  wretched  people,  far  away  from  their  friends 
iii  kindred,  locked  up  in  these  walls,  were  entirely  depend- 
mon  this  man  for  whatever  of  comfort  or  hope  is  possible  for 
thfie  in  their  sad  condition,  my  heart  has  swelled  with  pity  for 
th  a,  and  with  indignation  and  wrath  against  him  who  has 
iei  so  unfaithful  to  his  most  sacred  trust,  and  by  his  indif- 
feiaee  and  his  bad  and  cruel  treatment  has  made  the  lives 
ofhese  helpless  and  unhappy  ones  even  more  miserable.  The 
th'ight  of  these  things  follows  me  by  day  and  haunts  me  by 
t.  I  cannot  hide  from  my  sight  their  countenances  of  men¬ 
tal  gony  and  despair.  I  cannot  close  my  ears  to  their  cries  of 
detest  misery,  and  even  as  I  sleep  I  hear  them  say:  “Woe  is 


64 


me,  woe  is  me ! 


Hope  is  no  more!”  And  feeling  as  I  d 
haunted  as  I  am,  my  whole  soul  goes  out  in  tender  sympathy 
the  patients  who  are  or  who  may  be  here,  and  if  I  had  the  pow 
such  would  be  my  words  of  rebuke  and  denunciation  that  th 
cruel  tyrant  would  wait  not  for  your  verdict  of  dismissal,  h 
would  rush,  as  one  mad,  from  this  sacred  temple  which  he  h 
desecrated,  and  would  pray  that  the  mountains  would  fall  ( 
and  the  hills  cover  him. 

“Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,; 
did  it  not  to  me.” 

Great  God !  Almighty  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  Universe, 
whose  hands  are  the  destinies  of  worlds,  nations  and  individual 
Thou  knowest  that  the  misfortunes,  the  trials  and  the  struggl 
of  this  world  are  oftentimes  more  than  we  can  bear.  It  was  b 
yesterday  that  1  saw  a  man  of  bright  intellect,  of  great  lean 
ing,  of  keenly  sensitive  nature,  without  apparent  cause,  pa 
into  the  dark  and  awful  shadow  of  insanity,  and  consigned 
the  keeping  of  these  walls.  There  are  dreadful  moments  in  n 
own  life  when  I  too  am  haunted  by  the  suspicious  fear  of  a  di 
eased  brain  and  it  may  be  that  I,  or  some  one  whom  I  love  be 
ter  than  my  own  soul,  may  have  to  bear  this  greatest  of  hum; 
calamities.  I  pray,  I  beseech  you,  good  Lord,  to  so  enligkt< 
the  understandings  and  the  hearts  of  the  members  of  this  Roar 
upon  whom  rests  the  great  responsibility  of  caring  for  these  u 
fortunate  people  and  of  ameliorating  their  sufferings  by  all  pc 
sible  means  in  their  power,  that  they  will  be  able  to  see  the! 
duty  and  have  the  courage  to  perform  it.  So  fill  their  heai 
with  kindness,  with  mercy  and  with  the  love  of  the  poor  suffe 
ing  men  and  women  who  are  or  who  may  be  inmates  of  this  i 
stitution  that  they  will  cast  out  and  utterly  destroy  that  terril 
machine  of  torture,  that  blot  upon  the  civilization  of  the  nid  ■ 
teenth  century,  the  bed  strap,  in  whose  embrace  good  men  aij 
women  have  suffered  the  agonies  of  the  damned ;  and  let  the, 
send  back  into  the  shades  of  obscurity,  let  them  remove  from  tl 
sacred  temple,  him  who  makes  use  of  this  cruel  instrument  up 
the  wretched  insane  in  his  keeping  as  a  punishment  for  acts  r 
words  beyond  their  control. 


J 

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Trials. 

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L 99146  Vol.21 

DATE 

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